SETTERS GROUND RIVER HAWKS, 62-59
LOWELL, MA - Senior Ryan Williams (Centreville, VA/Paul VI) led the Pace University men's basketball team to a 62-59 victory over the River Hawks of the University of Massachusetts - Lowell in a Northeast-10 Conference match up at the Costello Athletic Center in Lowell, Mass. With the win, Pace improves to 8-7 on the season and 7-3 in the NE-10, while UMass - Lowell falls to 4-9 overall, 2-7 in conference play.
Williams led all scorers with a game-high 25 points shooting 8-for-16 from the field, including 4-for-10 from three and 5-for-6 from the free throw line. Williams also added six rebounds. Classmate Desmond Quincy-Jones (Rye, NY/Rye) was the only other Setter in double figures dropping 16 points on 5-for-11 shooting from the field and a perfect 6-for-6 from the line. Quincy-Jones also brought down a game-high 10 rebounds for the double-double. Sophomore Laurence McGhee (Linden, NJ/Linden) paced the Setters offense dishing out a team-best five assists.
UMass - Lowell had four players in double figures led by Michael Gore's team-best 14 points on 7-for-10 shooting. Kevin Carr, Max Kerman and Dashon Harper all scored 12 points apiece for the River Hawks. Carr also dished out a game-high eight assists on the afternoon.
The first half featured a tight sea-saw battle with both teams trading buckets as neither team was able to separate themselves from the other. UMass-Lowell held a slim lead throughout much of half with their largest lead being five, while Pace's largest lead was just two. There would be seven ties and four lead changes as the teams headed into the break all knotted up at 27.
The second half featured much of the same as neither team was able to break away from the other. Gore gave Lowell their largest lead of the game, 48-46, with 11:13 left in the game, while Pace's largest lead of the game, 59-54, came at the 4:45 mark on a jumper by Williams. That bucket would also be Pace's last field goal of the game. Down by five, 51-46, with 10:06 remaining in the game, the Setters used a 9-0 run to take the lead and control of the game. After a Williams jumper tied the game at 51 for the 10th and final time with 8:13 remaining in the game, Pace would take the lead for good on a lay-up by Quincy-Jones seconds later at the 7:51 mark. The Setters would hold off the River Hawks down the stretch converting key free throws as Pace escaped with the 62-59 win. UMass - Lowell would have one last second shot to force overtime as Conor Wetzel missed the potential game-tying three pointer at the buzzer.
Pace shot 41.2% (21-for-51) from the field, but shot just 19.0% (4-for-21) from beyond the arc, while UMass-Lowell shot 42.1% (24-for-57) from the field and 34.6% (9-for-26) from three. Free throws and rebounds would be the key of the game as the River Hawks went to the line just three times, converting on two of the three, compared to the Setters who went 16-for-21 (76.2%) from the line. Pace also controlled the glass out-rebounding Lowell 41 to 26.
Pace will be in action again on Wednesday, January
16th, as the Setters will travel to Albany, NY to take
on the Golden Knights of The College of Saint Rose in Northeast-10
Conference action. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. Pace will
look to even the season series as the Golden Knights defeated the
Setters, 84-77, earlier this season on December 4th in
Pleasantville.