PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The Pace University men's basketball team went a perfect 10-for-10 from three-point range to help the Setters defeat the University of New Haven, 70-59, in Norhteast-10 Conference action at the Goldstein Fitness Center on Saturday. The win improves the Setters to 4-4 on the year and 3-1 in NE-10 play, while New Haven falls to 2-5 overall and 1-4 in conference play.
Senior guard
Shelton Mickell (Queens, NY/Cardozo / Central Connecticut State) led the way with 27 points in the game, matching his career high, and made all three of his long-range attempts. He also pulled down seven boards and went a flawless 8-for-8 from the charity stripe. Freshman guard
Ryan Peterson (Wethersfield, CT/St. Thomas More) was a perfect 4-for-4 from beyond the arc and tallied 13 points in the game.
Seemingly riding the momentum from the second half of Wednesday's game against American International College, in which the Setters shot nearly 67 percent from the field, Pace came out firing in the opening half of Saturday's matchup. The Setters made 57.7 percent (15-of-26) from the field, including a perfect 7-of-7 from three-point range, leading to a big halftime lead of 38-21.
In the first frame, Peterson made all three of his attempts from long range and had 10 points at the break, while Mickell drained both of his long balls and led the Setters with 12 points heading into the locker room.
With the Setters up 5-3 early in the first frame, Peterson, sophomore guard
Bryan Rivers (West Windsor, NJ/Peddie School) and Mickell made back-to-back-to-back threes to put Pace up, 14-3. The Chargers fought back to cut the deficit down to five at 16-11, but Pace then went on a 15-2 run, including another three long balls. Senior forward
Kyle Pearson (Woodbridge, NJ/Woodbridge / Fairleigh Dickinson University) capped off the run with a slam dunk, followed by a big three on the next Setter possession. The Setters held a 15-point lead with time dwindling, and then Rivers drained a fade-away jumper at the buzzer to send them into the break up by 17.
The Setters cooled off a bit in the second half, as they looked to play ball control and run time off the clock. They led by double-digits for the far majority of the period, but New Haven rallied from 12-points down and cut the deficit to six with 2:01 to play. Pearson made a close-range jumper to push the lead back to eight at 62-54, and then New Haven's Tommy Hunter missed a three, forcing the Chargers to foul. They fouled the Setters five-straight times, finally sending Mickell to the line. Mickell was the only Setter fouled in the final minute of play, and made all eight of his chances to help clinch the Setters' first win over New Haven since the 2011-12 season.
Pearson had another nice game for the Setters with 15 points and a team-high eight rebounds. Peterson and Rivers matched with four assists, and Rivers contributed 11 more points.
Michael Bourke paced the Chargers with 22 points off the bench, while Jemal Mosley added 14 of his own.
Pace went on to finished 25-of-50 (50 percent) from the field on Saturday to go along with their 100 percent mark from three-point range. They also went 10-of-13 from the free-throw line. They outrebounded the Chargers, 33-26, and outscored them in the paint, 24-10.
After picking up back-to-back conference wins this week, the Setters take a break from NE-10 play to take on Georgian Court University on Thursday, Dec. 10. Tip-off in Lakewood, N.J. is set for 7 p.m.
For all information regarding Pace University men's basketball log on to
www.PaceUAthletics.com and follow Pace men's basketball on Twitter (
@PaceMBB).
