PLESANTVILLE, NY- Keon Williams (Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack/Iona College) (Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack/Iona College) scored 15 points and pulled down 10 boards as the men's basketball team defeated the Purple Knights of St. Michael's College 73-59 in Northeast-10 Conference action. The Setters improve to 7-5 overall, and 4-4 in conference play, while St. Michael's falls to 4-8 overall, and 1-7 conference play.

The Setters and the Purple Knights would trade the lead back and forth for most of the first half. Pace used a late 9-2 run capped off by a Denzel Primus-Devonish (Riverdale, MD/St. John's College) (Riverdale, MD/St. John's College) lay-up and two free throws to give the Setters a 31-22 lead as they held a 31-24 advantage at the break.

In the second half, the Setters continued their strong play as they would push their lead to 45-33 on David Eismeier (Burke, VA/Bishop O'Connell) (Burke, VA/Bishop O'Connell) three-pointer with 14:20 left. The Purple Knights rallied as they got as close as three-points at 47-44 with 9:41 remaining in the game. The Setters pulled ahead as Williams converted a three-point play and added another basket, while Jonathan Merceus (Union, NJ/Union) also had a three-point play to stretch the Pace lead to 10 points at 57-47.

Saint Michael's rallied as they closed to within five points at 58-52 with 5:40 left in the game. The Setters put the game out of reach with an 8-1 run as Merceus netted four points and Primus-Devonish added a lay-up to put the Setters back in front by double figures 66-53 with 3:22 on the clock as they held off the Purple Knights at bay the rest of the way.

Williams added three assists to his fourth double-double effort of the season, while Merceus added 17 points and nine rebounds. Primus-Devonish finished with 10 points, six assists, and three rebounds.

The Setters return to action on Saturday January 12 as they travel to Waltham, MA to take on the Falcons of Bentley University at 3:30 pm.