SPRINGFIELD, Mass.- Keon Williams (Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack/Iona College) (Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack/Iona College) netted his 1000th point in a Pace uniform with 2:38 left in the second half as the Setters fell to the Yellow Jackets of American International 61-57 in Northeast-10 Conference action. The Setters fall to 9-11 overall and 6-10 in the NE-10, while the Yellow Jackets improve to 7-13 and 4-12 in conference play.

American International held an early lead and broke out to a 16-9 advantage with 9:08 left in the opening half. The Setters rallied, trimming the score down to two points at 20-18 with 1:27 on the clock on an Ahmad George (Bowie, MD/Archbishop Carroll) (Bowie, MD/Archbishop Carroll) bucket. The Yellow Jackets added to their lead in the final minute as the Setters trailed 25-21 at the break,

The Yellow Jackets extended their halftime lead to 40-27 with 13:53 left in the game. The Setters answered as they closed to within six points at 48-43 with 7:18 left in the game on a Denzel Primus-Devonish (Riverdale, MD/St. John's College) (Riverdale, MD/St. John's College) floater in the lane.

American International pushed back out to a 11 point lead but the Setters rallied as Williams reached the 1000 point plateau with a lay-up at 2:30 to make it 55-50. William added a free throw at the 2:05 mark to pull Pace within 55-51. The Yellow Jackets connected on a triple with 1:30 left to play to make it a 58-51 game and held off a late Pace flurry in the final minute.

For Pace, Williams finished with 17 points, nine rebounds and two steals, while Jonathan Merceus (Union, NJ/Union) (Union, NJ/Union) posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds along with three assists and two steals. Kai Smith (Upper Marlboro, MD/St. Mary's Ryken) tallied 11 points, three rebounds and three assists, while Primus-Devonish added five assists.

The Setters return home to face the University of New Haven Chargers on Saturday, February 9 at the Goldstein Fitness Center at 3:30 pm.