PLEASANTVILLE, NY The Pace University men's basketball lost to the College of Saint Rose, 58-54, in a Northeast-10 Conference game played at the Goldstein Fitness Center on the Pleasantville campus of Pace University. The Setters drop to 11-13 overall and 8-11 in the NE-10 while St. Rose improves to 17-7 overall and 13-6 in conference action.
The Setters opened the game with a 21-to-4 run, capped off by an Oneil Morgan (Kingston, Jamaica/ Excelsior) fast break dunk at the 11:14 mark. St. Rose responded with a 16-to-3 run to cut the Setters lead to 25-20 with 3:46 remaining in the half. Pace would manage to push their lead to 28-22 at the 2:17 mark. Both teams remained scoreless for the remainder of the half. Morgan would be the story of the first frame, as he pulled down 14 rebounds in 17 minutes played. Pace doubled-up the Golden Knights on the glass, outrebounding their opponent, 34-17 in the first half of play.
St. Rose would respond in the second half, trading baskets with Pace until the 12:47 mark. After a pair of free throws by Pace freshman Randy Wilson (Peekskill, NY/ Peekskill), the Golden Knights exploded on a 10-0 run over a three minute stretch to give St. Rose a 45-39 lead with 9:38 on the clock. Pace would tie the game at 51-51 with 3:36 to play and would take their last lead of the game on a 3-pointer by Neal Wellington (Wheaton, MD/ Good Counsel) with 2:59 to play. St. Rose held Pace scoreless for the remainder of the half and ratted off five points to seal the victory.
Morgan would finish with his third double-double in the last five games, totaling 11 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. Wellington chipped in with 16 points and seven assists while Wilson had eight points, seven rebounds and four assists for Pace.
For St. Rose, Terrance King (Hempstead, NY/ Hempstead) also turned in a double-double, finishing with 16 points and 10 assists. Brad Shove (Pittsfield, MA/ Pittsfield) also chipped in 16 points while Steve Dagostino (Guilderland, NY/ Guilderland) had nine points, eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. Clayton Longmire (Rochester, NY/ Gates-Chili) blocked seven shots for the Golden Knights.
Pace returns to action when they travel to New Haven, Conn. on Saturday, February 11th to take on the Owls of Southern Connecticut State University in a Northeast-10 Conference match-up set to tip-off at 3:30 p.m.