Box Score PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Junior
Victor Jusino (Morris Plains, NJ/St. Peter's Prep) netted a career-high 24 points on Saturday, leading the Pace University men's basketball team to an 85-76 victory over Felician University in the final contest of the NE-10/CACC Challenge at the Goldstein Fitness Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
- Felician got off to a hot start, hitting threes on its first two trips down the court.
- The Setters kept pace early on, tying the game at 6-6 on a jumper by sophomore
Ryan Peterson (Wethersfield, CT/St. Thomas More).
- Back-and-forth play saw the Setters take a 14-13 lead, but Felician then went on an 8-0 run, including back-to-back threes, to grab a 21-14 advantage and force Pace to call timeout.
- The lead grew to 23-14 before Pace found a rhythm.
- Peterson sank a three, and then senior
Austin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow / Lincoln College of NE) drew a foul, making both shots to get back within four.
- Later, back-to-back layups by redshirt sophomore
Mike Demello (Mohegan Lake, NY/White Plains) made it a 25-24 game in favor of the visitors.
- Jusino then took over, scoring the next six points for the Setters and giving them a 30-29 advantage with 4:42 left in the half.
- Terrell Spaulding scored twice in a row for Felician, but Peterson drained another three to tie it up at 33-33.
- The Golden Falcons managed to take a 39-35 lead, but a free throw by grad student
Christian White (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute / Syracuse University) and a jumper by Jusino closed the gap at 39-38.
- Bryant Webb hit a buzzer-beating jumper for the Golden Falcons to send them into the locker room with a 41-38 lead.
- Jusino led all players with 16 points at the break on 7-of-7 shooting.
SECOND HALF
- Less than two minutes into the second frame, Peterson hit yet another trey to tie the game up at 43-43.
- Spaulding got the lead back for the Golden Falcons with a pair of free throws, but a slam dunk by Peterson knotted things up once again.
- Spaulding responded with a three, but White answered back with one of his own to once again tie it up.
- The Setters went on a run to take a 52-48 lead, but Felician came right back with six straight points to go back up by a pair.
- After the Golden Falcons went up, 59-56, the Setters rallied for an 11-0 run to gain a 67-59 advantage with 8:37 to play.
- Zamir Wright halted the run with a pair of free throws for Felician, but Peterson came right back with another long ball to take a nine-point lead.
- With just 1:17 to go, Demello sank a pair of tries from the charity stripe to make it a 79-67 game.
- The Setters made nine straight foul shots down the stretch to hold off the Golden Falcons for the 85-76 victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
- Jusino's career-high 24 points led the Setters on Saturday. He shot an outstanding 10-of-11 from the field.
- Peterson was close behind with 20 points on the evening, including four three-pointers. He also grabbed seven boards.
- Mofunanya picked up 15 points, and narrowly missed a double-double with nine rebounds.
- Demello scored 17 points off the bench, adding five boards and three assists.
- White led the Setters with five helpers.
- Pace shot 50 percent from the field in the game, and had its second-straight solid night from the free-throw line, making 24-of-29 (82.8 percent) of its foul shots.
GOLDEN FALCON LEADERS
- Spaulding led all scorers with 28 points after making 8-of-8 free throws and 4-of-6 threes.
- Spaulding tied with Webb and Gjaimeir Stanford for a team-best five rebounds.
- Webb dished out five assists and had a pair of steals.
RECORDS
- Pace: 2-0
- Felician: 0-2
UP NEXT
- Pace hits the road to play Wilmington University (Del.) for another out-of-conference matchup on Wednesday, Nov. 16, with a 7 p.m. tip-off.
For all information regarding Pace University men's basketball log on to
www.PaceUAthletics.com and follow Pace men's basketball on Twitter (
@PaceMBB).
