PLEASANTVILLE, NY- Kai Smith (Upper Marlboro, MD/St. Mary's Ryken) (Upper Marlboro, MD/St. Mary's Ryken) led the Setters with 16 points but it was not enough as Pace came up short to the Warriors of Merrimack College 70-63 in Northeast-10 Conference action.

The Setters fall to 3-10 overall and 1-6 in the NE-10, while the Warriors improve to 7-7 and 5-4 in conference play.

The teams traded leads over the first seven minutes of the game but the Warriors controlled the action as they pulled out to an eight point lead with 10:48 left in the half. The Setters rallied with a 12-3 run to take a one point lead with 3:48 left in the half. Jonathan Merceus (Union, NJ/Union) (Union, NJ/Union) netted five points in the rally, while Smith added a triple and capped the run with a lay-up to put the Setters in the lead at 23-22. The scored remained close in the waning minutes but the Setters used a late flurry to take a lead into the break. Jamaal James (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn College Academy) (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn College Academy) tied the game with a lay-up with 17 seconds on the clock, while Denzel Primus-Devonish (Riverdale, MD/St. John's College) (Riverdale, MD/St. John's College) got a steal in the back court and Jaylen Mann (Youngstown, OH/Liberty) (Youngstown, OH/Liberty) scored with four seconds left to lift Pace to a 33-31 at halftime.

The Setters pushed ahead to a five point lead early in the second half as Mann connected on a trifecta in the first 90 seconds. The Warriors answered as they rallied back to take a four point lead at 41-37 with 16:02 left in the contest. Pace closed to within a point on a triple from Evan Orzolek (Midlothian, VA/Bridgton Academy) but the Warriors used a 12-2 run to pull ahead 54-43 with 9:36 on the clock.

Pace chipped away over the next five minutes as Smith's triple with 4:19 left in the game sliced the score down to four points at 60-56. The Warriors withheld the Setters run despite triples by Smith and Primus-Devonish in the final minute of play.

For the Setters, Smith connected on 4-of-9 from downtown, finishing with a team-high 16 points along with five rebounds, three assists and two steals. Primus-Devonish tallied 14 points, six assists, six steals and three boards, while Merceus posted a double-double with 12 points and 13 rebounds.  

The Setters hit the road this weekend as they travel to Easton, MA for an NE-10 clash against Stonehill College on Saturday, January 11 at 3:30 pm.