LAKEWOOD, NJ- Jonathan Merceus (Union, NJ/Union) (Union, NJ/Union) led five scorers in double figures with 24 points as the Setters defeated the Lions of Georgian Court University 90-75 for their second consecutive victory. The Setters improve to 2-4 on the season, while the Lions fall to 2-5.

The Setters raced out to a 22-11 lead in the first six and a half minutes as Jamaal James (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn College Academy) (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn College Academy) netted six points, while Kevin Berardini (Lake Forest, IL/Lake Forest) (Lake Forest, IL/Lake Forest) and Jaylen Mann (Youngstown, OH/Liberty) (Youngstown, OH/Liberty) added triples to get Pace off to a strong start. The Lions sliced the score down to four points midway through the half before the Setters pulled away with a 9-0 run. Kai Smith (Upper Marlboro, MD/St. Mary's Ryken) (Upper Marlboro, MD/St. Mary's Ryken) capped the run with a triple to extend the Pace advantage to 35-22 with five minutes left in the half. Georgian Court rallied late as the Setters held a 38-29 lead at the break.

Pace stretched their lead to 19 points midway through the second half at a Merceus lay-up at the 11:53 mark to give the Setters a 62-41 lead. Georgian Court battled back to trail by eight points at the 6:21 mark but Smith connected on a trifecta and Merceus tipped in a Setter miss to push the lead back to 13 points.

The Lions had one more run in them as they closed their deficit back to single digits at 80-71 with just under a minute left in the game. The Setters iced the game down the stretch going 8-for-8 at the free throw line with Mann (2-for-2) and Berardini (6-for-6) put the game out of reach to give Pace their second win in a row.

For the Setters, Merceus added seven rebounds, two assists and three steals to his game-high 24 points.  James finished with a double-double, totaling 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Mann tallied 16 points and seven caroms. Smith chipped in 11 points, three boards and three assists, while Berardini just missed a double-double effort with 11 points and nine assists. Nick Jackson (Brooklyn, NY/Boys and Girls) recorded seven points and seven boards off the bench.

The Setters return home on Wednesday, December 4 when they host the Panthers of Adelphi University in a Northeast-10 Conference match-up at 7:30 pm.