POOR SECOND HALF DOOMS
PACE AS THEY FALL TO LE MOYNE 74-53
SYRACUSE, NY- The Pace University men's basketball team dropped a crucial Northeast-10 Conference matchup Wednesday night to the Dolphins of Le Moyne College 74-53 at Ted Grant Court.
The loss drops the Setters to 7-14 on the season and 5-11 in the Northeast-10. The win bumps the Dolphins season record up to 12-10 overall and 8-9 in conference play.
Pace and Le Moyne both came out with a lot of energy to start the game as the two teams battled to a 12-12 tie with 12:58 left to go in the first half. Le Moyne then pushed out in front thanks to a 8-2 run that made the score 20-14. Pace countered right back with a 7-2 run of their own that was capped off by a Wesley Dunning (Laurel, MD/Gonzaga High School) jumper to make the score 22-21 with 6:40 left in the half. Le Moyne got the lead back up to four, at 32-28, going into halftime. Pace stayed within striking distance thanks to the phenomenal play of freshman Justin Alston (Bronx, NY/Saint Raymond) who was making his first start of the season. Alston finished the half scoring 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting from three-point range. Pace out-rebounded Le Moyne in the first half, 18-16
Pace cut the lead down to three after a Laurence McGhee (Linden, NJ/Linden) layup with 17:55 left to go in the game. This was the crucial point in the game for the Setters as Le Moyne put together a 14-3 run over the next three minutes to make the score 51-37, with 14:21 left in the game. Pace got as close as 11 on a Dunning tip-in with 12:44 left to go, but an ensuing 14-2 run by the Dolphins pushed the lead back up to 23 and put the game out of reach. Pace wound up losing the game by 21. Pace's biggest problem in the second half was points in the paint as they were outscored 26-12 in the second half alone. Pace also went cold in the second half as well only shooting 28 percent, while Le Moyne shot 64 percent in the second half.
Pace was led by Alston who scored a team-high 18 points on 5-of-13 shooting from three-point range, while collecting three rebounds. The Setters also got a solid performance from Delroy Daley (Bronx, NY/Saint Raymond) as he finished with eight points and four rebounds.
Pace gets back on the court on Sunday, February 8 as they return home to take on Saint Michaels College. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m.
