PHILADELPHIA, PA- The Setters fell to Philadelphia University 79-65 in non-conference action. The Setters fall to 3-9 overall, while the Rams improve to 10-4 on the season. The game featured the renewing of acquaintances of two legendary coaches as Pace Head Coach Pat Kennedy and Philadelphia Head Coach Herb Magee met on opposing benches for the first time in 42 years.
The teams traded leads in the early part of the game as
Denzel Primus-Devonish (Riverdale, MD/St. John's College) (Riverdale, MD/St. John's College) pulled the Setters even at 13 with a free throw at the 12:29 mark. The Rams rallied as they pulled ahead to as much as 17 points before the Setters scored a points late to trail 37-25 at the break.
The Setters rallied to start the second half with a 6-0 run to close to within six points at the 17:21 mark of the second half.
Jonathan Merceus (Union, NJ/Union) (Union, NJ/Union) opened the scoring while
Jaylen Mann (Youngstown, OH/Liberty) (Youngstown, OH/Liberty) and
Jamaal James (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn College Academy) (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn College Academy) added a pair of baskets as to get the score down to 37-31.
The Rams answered with a 17-5 run to push their lead to 54-36 with 12:20 to play and held a double-digit lead the rest of the way. The Setters got as close as 12 points with 1:27 to play on a Primus-Devonish trifecta but the Rams hit all four free throws down the stretch.
For the Setters, Primus-Devonish led the way with 15 points and four assists, while Mann added 15 points and two rebounds. Merceus tallied 13 points and six rebounds, while James finished with 10 points and two rebounds.
Kai Smith (Upper Marlboro, MD/St. Mary's Ryken) shot 3-for-4 from downtown, netting nine points and four rebounds.
The Setters return to home on Wednesday, January 8 as they will host the Warriors of Merrimack College in a Northeast-10 Conference match-up at 7:30 pm.
