PLEASANTVILLE, NY- Denzel Primus-Devonish (Riverdale, MD/St. John's College) (Riverdale, MD/St. John's College) netted a game-high 23 points but the Setters came up short in the final minutes to the Le Moyne Dolphins in Northeast-10 Conference action. The Setters end their season at 7-19 overall and 5-15 in the NE-10, while the Dolphins improve to 16-10 and 13-7 in conference play.
The Dolphins led the entire first half with one early tie, as they built a 24-14 lead just past the midpoint of the half. The Setters closed to within seven points but the Dolphins pulled ahead to lead 31-19 at the break.
The Setters opened the second half on a blistering pace as they used an 11-0 run to close to within a point. Kai Smith (Upper Marlboro, MD/St. Mary's Ryken) (Upper Marlboro, MD/St. Mary's Ryken) sparked the scoring with a three followed by a Jamaal James (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn College Academy) (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn College Academy) three-point play. Primus-Devonish capped the run with a pair of free throws and a triple at the 17:57 mark to pull the Setters to within a point at 31-30.
The teams traded baskets over the next five minutes but the Dolphins eventually pulled ahead by seven at 45-38 with 12:52 left in the game. Primus-Devonish led a Pace run as he scored all the points in a 9-1 rally. He started with a fast break lay-up, then converted the rare four-point play and connected on another triple to give the Setters their first lead of the game at 47-46 with 10:03 remaining in the game.
It was back and forth the rest of the way as the contest saw four ties and three leads changes in the final 10 minutes of play. There was only one field goal by either team in the last five minutes of play but it was a key one as Le Moyne's Nat Champion connected on the go-ahead three-pointer to put the Dolphins ahead for good with 2:53 left in the game.
The Setters did not go quietly as James hit a free throw at the 2:16 mark and 1:37 mark to slice the score down to one. Le Moyne answered with a pair at the line with 1:10 on the clock and Primus-Devonish hit two free throws in the final 15 seconds as Pace trailed by two. The Setters retained possession following the second free throw miss by Primus-Devonish with eight seconds on the clock. Pace was able to have three shots, one for the go-ahead and two more to tie, in the final five seconds but all missed their mark as the Setters came up short as time expired.
For the Setters, Primus-Devonish's 23 points led the way as he added two assists and two steals. Smith finished with 12 points, four assists and two steals, while James totaled 11 points, seven rebounds and two blocks. Jonathan Merceus (Union, NJ/Union) posted a new career-high in rebounds with 17, while netting eight points and two steals in the game.
