PACE KEEPS NE-10 TOURNAMENT HOPES ALIVE WITH A 72-65 OVERTIME THRILLER OVER SAINT MICHAEL'S
PLEASANTVILLE, NY- The Pace University men's basketball
team won a crucial 72-65 NE-10 Tournament matchup against the
Purple Knights of Saint Michael's College on Sunday evening at the
Goldstein Fitness Center.
The win improves the Setters to 8-14 on the season, and a 6-11 record in the NE-10 Conference. The loss will drop Saint Michael's to 7-13 on the season, and 5-13 in conference play. The men improve to 6-6 at home this season with the win.
Both teams struggled scoring the ball in the early going as the two teams combined to only score 18 points in the first eleven minutes of the first half. With Pace holding a slim 11-8 lead with 9:54 left in the half Adrian Mills (Woodbridge, VA/Paul VI), and the Setters offense, finally came alive. Mills scored all eight points in an 8-0 run which pushed the Setter lead up to 11 at 19-8, with 7:58 left in the half. Pace then went cold again from the field which let Purple Knights back into the game. Saint Michael's went on a 15-5 run to close the half, while Pace missed eight of their last 10 shots from the field in the first half. All of these things put together resulted in only a one point Pace lead going into the locker rooms. Pace shot 33 percent from the field in the first half, while Saint Michael's shot 35 percent. Pace won the battle in the paint in the first half outscoring the Purple Knights 12-6.
The first seven minutes of the second half was a back-and-forth battle between the two teams as no team could create any separation. Pace was still holding onto their one point lead, at 38-37 with 13:12 left to go in the game, when another individual effort sparked another Setter run. Carlos Howard (Fort Washington, MD/Gonzaga High) hit two key three-pointers in an 11-4 run which made the score 49-41, with 8:34 remaining. Pace continued to hold a four point lead after a Laurence McGhee (Linden, NJ/Linden) free-throw with 41 seconds left to go in the game. Saint Michael's Alex Berthiaume went on to score the next four points of the game to force a 55-55 tie with 23 seconds remaining. Pace had two chances to win the game in the final seconds but couldn't convert as the game would head into overtime.
Pace took a quick five point lead with 1:43 left in the extra session thanks to two more Howard three-pointers. A free-throw by McGhee put the game out of reach as it extended the Pace lead to seven with 26 seconds left. Pace outscored Saint Michael's in overtime 17-10 for a seven point win.
Pace shot 41 percent from the field in the game, while the Purple Knights shot 37 percent. Pace also had the advantage from three-point land going 11-for-24(46%) in the game, while Saint Michael's was only 3-for-18(17%). Pace's bench stepped up huge as they poured in 41 points as a unit, while Saint Michael's only got eight points from their bench in the game.
Pace was led by Howard who had a team-high 16 points on 4-of-8 shooting from three-point land. Delroy Daley (Bronx, NY/Saint Raymond) chipped in with five points, a team-high seven rebounds and a game-high three blocks. McGhee also had a solid game with eight points, and a game-high nine assists.
Pace is back in action on Tuesday, February 8 as they will play a home game on the Pace Manhattan campus against Saint Anselm College. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
