Sacred Heart defeated Merrimack 89-85 on Saturday. The Warriors share the Northeast Conference regular-season championship with Central Connecticut, but the Blue Devils win the tiebreaker for the No. 1 overall seed in the NEC Tournament.
The first tiebreaker is head-to-head record. Merrimack and CCSU split their two-game series in the regular season 1-1. CCSU won the tiebreaker by having a better record against the third-place team (Sacred Heart). With the loss on Saturday, the Warriors finished 1-1, and CCSU went 2-0.
The tournament begins on Wednesday. Merrimack will host Long Island at Lawler Arena (7 p.m.).
The Warriors fell from No. 190 to No. 197 in the NCAA NET Rankings.
Jordan Derkack finished with 27 points, nine rebounds, five assists and two steals for the Warriors (19-11, 13-3). Samba Diallo added 21 points for Merrimack. In addition, Adam Clark had 11 points.
