PLEASANTVILLE, NY- Denzel Primus-Devonish (Riverdale, MD/St. John's College) (Riverdale, MD/St. John's College) drained a game-winning trifecta with 2.3 seconds left in the game to lift the Pace University men's basketball team to a thrilling 65-62 win over the Falcons of Bentley University in Northeast-10 Conference action. For Primus-Devonish, it marks his third game-winning shot of his career.
Both teams held leads over the first ten minutes of play with Bentley lead 8-4 and Pacer answering to pull ahead 19-13 at the 10:06 mark on a Jaylen Mann (Youngstown, OH/Liberty) (Youngstown, OH/Liberty) three-pointer. The Falcons chipped away and took a three-point lead at 27-24 with 4:40 left in the half. The Setters answered with a 10-0 powered by a pair of Mann triples to pull ahead 34-27 as Pace headed into the break in the lead at 38-31.
The Setters pushed their advantage to as much as nine points at 44-35 on a pair of free throws by Jonathan Merceus (Union, NJ/Union) (Union, NJ/Union) with 16:52 left in the game. Bentley closed the gap with a 20-6 run over the next nine minutes as they took their biggest lead of the game at 55-50 with 7:55 to play in the game.
Pace flipped the script with an 11-0 burst, keyed by a Merceus three-point play and back-to-back trifectas by Mann. Jamaal James (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn College Academy) (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn College Academy) capped it with a jumper at the 3:39 mark to put Pace ahead by six points at 61-55. The Falcons ripped off the next seven points as they retook the lead at 62-61 with 1:14 to go. The Setters evened the score as Merceus went 1-for-2 at the line with under a minute left in the game.
The Falcons missed a three-ball with 18 seconds on the clock and the Setters called a timeout to set up the final play. Kai Smith (Upper Marlboro, MD/St. Mary's Ryken) dribbled right side of the outside the three-point line, passed it to Primus-Devonish on the left side, who drained it with 2.3 seconds on the clock. The Falcons did not get a shot off as James deflected the in-bounds pass that was scooped up by Primus-Devonish to seal the deal for the Setters. It was the third career game-winner for Primus-Devonish as he drained a pair of fade-away buzzer beaters against New Haven on February 4, 2012 and Bloomfield on November 10, 2012.
For the Setters, Primus-Devonish finished with 11 points, six rebounds and five assists, while Merceus posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Mann tied a career-high with 19 points and grabbed five rebounds. Smith tallied 12 points and three assists, while James added nine caroms.
The Setters return to action on Saturday, February 8 as they will host the Yellow Jackets of American International College at 3:30 pm. Saturday will also be Senior Day as Pace will honors its seven seniors prior to the game.
