PACE GETS SOLID WIN IN
HOME OPENER OVER SAINT ROSE 71-57
ALSTON'S 20 SECOND HALF POINTS LEADS SETTERS TO VICTORY
PLEASANTVILLE, NY- The Pace University men's basketball team won their home opener at the Goldstein Fitness Center to give them a huge NE-10 conference win over the College of Saint Rose 71-57 . Pace improves to 3-2 on the season and 2-1 in the NE-10; while the Golden Knights drop to 2-3 on the season and now have a 1-2 mark in-conference. The win marks the third home opener the Setters have won in their last four seasons.
Pace came out with a lot of energy in front of their home crowd to start the game but struggled early as they trailed 19-12 with 10:17 left in the first half. The Setters energy may have caused some of their shots to be off the mark early on as they missed 10 of their first 15 shots, and trailed by seven halfway through the first half. Pace kept the game close through most of the first half due to the efforts of Randy Wilson (Peekskill, NY/Peekskill) as he had five points, and five rebounds to lead the Setters. The teams then would turn up the defensive intensity as points were hard to come by with the score being 25-20 with 3:55 left in the first half. This is where Pace made their run as they outscored the Golden Knights 8-2 to end the half with a 28-27 lead.
The Setters came out of halftime a little sluggish as they would loose their lead with the score being 40-36 with 12:41 left in the game. This is where the freshman Justin Alston (Bronx, NY/St. Raymond H.S.) took the game over for the Setters as he scored 17 of the next 25 points for Pace to help them gain the lead back at 61-55 with 2:15 left in the game. From here Pace made their free-throws down the stretch to help seal the win.
Alston had a game-high 21 points on 8-for-14 shooting from the field, and shot 3-of-8 from three-point land. The Setters also got a great stat stuffing performance from Laurence McGhee (Linden, NJ/Linden) as he had 16 points, three rebounds, a team-high four assists, and a team-high four steals.
The men's team returns to action on Wednesday, December 3 as they travel to Springfield, MA to play NE-10 rival American International. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
