Sacred Heart vs Merrimack Prediction 2/21/25 College Basketball Picks

The Sacred Heart Pioneers and the Merrimack Warriors meet Friday in college basketball action from Hammel Court. Here’s a Sacred Heart vs Merrimack prediction. We will look at this from a betting perspective and determine the best Sacred Heart vs Merrimack pick. We will examine: 

The Sacred Heart Pioneers’ recent form and player performance

The Merrimack Warriors’ recent form and player performance 

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Sacred Heart Pioneers

Recent betting trends and streaks involving the Merrimack Warriors

Recent betting trends in games played between Sacred Heart vs Merrimack

A summary that ties it all together and produces a favorable betting outcome for the Sacred Heart vs Merrimack game

Sacred Heart Pioneers Betting Preview

The Pioneers have had a choppy run this year, and so far they’ve been below the .500 mark. Sacred Heart went 4-8 in their first 12 outings, taking losses to Temple, UConn, Dartmouth, Holy Cross, Brown, Quinnipiac, Albany, and Miami OH in that time. After wins over Manhattanville and Canisius, the Pioneers fell to Merrimack, Mount St. Mary’s, Siena, and Saint Peters. Wins over Canisius, Niagara, Manhattan, Rider, and Fairfield came next, then losses to Quinnipiac and Siena. Overall, that gives the Pioneers an 11-14 overall record through 25 games so far this season. 

In their Sunday matchup versus Siena, the Pioneers came out of the first half with a seven-point deficit 40-33. Sacred Heart kept the pace on a 40-40 run from there and took the loss 80-73 in the end. Tops on the team in scoring was Nyle Ralph-Beyer, who came off the bench for 24 points and two rebounds in 35 minutes of work. Anquan Hill added 22 points with five boards, and Amiri Stewart chipped in with 14 points, six rebounds, and three assists. 

Merrimack Warriors Betting Preview

Over on the Merrimack side, they came out of the gate on a rough run this year but they’ve been able to climb back above the .500 mark. The Warriors lost six of their first seven games though, taking a win over only Vermont in their opener. A 7-3 stretch came across the next 10 games though, with wins over Troy, Canisius, Niagara, Boston U, Fairfield, Sacred Heart, and Manhattan with losses to Stanford, Saint Mary’s, and Quinnipiac otherwise. After wins over Rider, Niagara, and Canisius, the Warriors would fall to Manhattan and Marist in the next pair, giving Merrimack a 14-12 record in their first 26 games of the year. 

Matched up against Marist on Sunday, the Warriors posted a 26-25 deficit by halftime. Merrimack hit a 35-35 run from there and couldn’t come back in a 61-60 loss at home. Leading the way in the losing effort was Adam Clark, who scored 19 points, six assists, four rebounds, and three steals. Bryan Etumnu added 13 points with seven boards, two steals, and two blocks, while Sean Trumper posted 10 points with four assists, five rebounds, and a block. 

Why the Merrimack Warriors will win

• Merrimack has won 12 of its last 14 games at Hammel Court.
• Sacred Heart has lost the first half in each of its last four games at Hammel Court against non-AP-ranked opponents.

Why the Sacred Heart Pioneers will win

• The road team has won each of Sacred Heart’s last three games.
• Merrimack has lost the first half in six of its last eight night games.

Sacred Heart vs Merrimack Prediction 

I’ll stay with Merrimack I suppose. The Warriors are coming off a tough loss at home versus a pretty good Marist team though, so they’ll need a bounce-back effort. In that one Merrimack posted a rough 38.6 percent from the field with a 38-31 rebounding deficit. the 17 points off 17 Foxes turnovers helped quite a bit, but the Warriors didn’t have enough offense to get the win. That makes fewer than 70 points in five of the last six games for Merrimack, a 3-3 run. 

Back on January 10 when these teams last met up, the Warriors eked out a 66-65 road victory. Merrimack was blitzed on the boards 46-28 in that one and also committed 12 turnovers for 12 Sacred Heart points. The Warriors are going to need to minimize the mistakes and play a more physical game in the home rematch, but I think they’re capable.