WILLIAMS' 28 LEADS PACE PAST SAINT MICHAEL'S 83-69
PLEASANTVILLE, NY - Senior guard Ryan Williams (Centreville, VA/Paul VI) scored a game-high 28 points to lead the Pace University men's basketball team to an 83-69 victory over the visiting Purple Knights of Saint Michael's College, 83-69, in a Northeast-10 Conference match-up this evening at the Goldstein Health, Fitness & Recreation Center in Pleasantville, NY. With their win, Pace improves to 11-13 overall, 10-9 in the NE-10, while the Purple Knights fall to 7-16 overall and 5-14 in conference play.
Williams finished the afternoon shooting 8-for-18 from the floor, including 5-for-12 from beyond the arc and 7-for-9 from the free throw line for the game-high 28. Williams also added seven rebounds and five assists to his stat line. Junior Jon Jones (Dover, NH/Bridgton Academy) provided a spark off the bench with 13 points and eight rebounds, while senior Gibraltar White (Gautier, MS/Gautier) finished with 11 points. Classmate Desmond Quincy-Jones (Rye, NY/Rye) was the fourth Setter in double figures chipping in with 10 points, to go along with a game-high nine rebounds. Sophomore Laurence McGhee (Linden, NJ/Linden) paced the offense dishing out six assists, to go with nine points.
The Purple Knights had three players in double digits led by senior James Sorrentine's (Pawtucket, RI) team-high 20 points going 6-for-14 from three. Junior Mike Iola (West Newbury, MA) finished with 19 points, while senior Brian Monahan (Kinderhook, NY) contributed with 18 points. Iola and Monahan also grabbed eight rebounds apiece.
The first seven minutes of the opening half featured a tight battle as both teams looked for some separation. After a Monahan jumper at the 13:45 mark made the game 15-11 in favor of Pace, the Setters would use a 14-0 run to pull away and build an 18-point lead, 29-11. Monahan would end St. Michael's scoring drought with a three-pointer with 8:02 left in the half. Pace would continue to build upon their advantage, as the Setters cruised into the intermission with a 21-point cushion, 45-24.
Saint Michael's would not go down easy, however, as the Purple Knights came out bombing away from beyond the arc to start the second half with a 17-4 run, cutting their deficit to eight, 49-41, with 14:53 remaining in the game. St. Michael's drilled five three-pointers in the run to get back into the game. Sorrentine and Iola hit a pair of threes in the run. The Setters quickly answered with three-pointers from Williams and Quincy-Jones to push their lead back to double digits. Saint Michael's continued to hang around due to their three-point shooting, cutting their deficit back down to single digits on a number of occasions. Down 11, 70-59, with 3:00 left, the Purple Knights used a 6-0 run on a pair of Sorrentine three-pointers to make it a five-point game, 70-65, with 1:45 remaining. That's as close as Saint Michael's would get, however, as Pace converted their free throws down the stretch, including scoring the final six points in the game, to lock up the 83-69 win.
For the game, Pace shot an even 54.0% (27-for-50) from the field, including 45.5% (10-for-22) from three. The Setters also took full advantage of the charity stripe going 19-for-25 (76.0%) from the line. St. Michael's shot 36.4% (24-for-66) from the field, including 39.5% (15-for-38) from three. The Purple Knights didn't have many free throw opportunities as they went just 6-for-11 (54.5%) from the line for the game. Pace also controlled the glass as the Setters out rebounded St. Michael's 39-31.
The Setters return to action this Tuesday, February
19th, as Pace travels to the birthplace of basketball,
Springfield, MA to take on American International College in a
NE-10 Conference battle. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 p.m.