PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The Pace University men's basketball team squeezed out a tough win against Post University Sunday afternoon by a score of 52-50 in a non-conference game at the Goldstein Fitness Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
- Pace came out aggressive, as junior
Bryan Rivers (West Windsor, NJ/Peddie School) drained a three and later knocked down two free throws to give the Setters a 5-0 lead early in the game.
- Post finished two layups, the first by Joseph Lockwood and the second by Tyler Desrosiers, to bring the Eagles within one point at the 16:55 minute mark.
- Pace then began feeding its post players, as junior
Victor Jusino (Morris Plains, NJ/St. Peter's Prep) and senior
Austin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow / Lincoln College of NE) scored the remainder of the Setters' points in the first half.
- Mofunanya and Jusino combined for 13 of the Setters' 18 first-half points, as Mofunanya missed the first but connected on the end of two free throws with four seconds remaining before halftime.
- The Setters went to the locker room with a one-point deficit, as Post led, 19-18.
HALFTIME LEADERS
- Jusino led all scorers at halftime with eight points and added four rebounds, while Mofunanya pulled down six boards and added five points in the first frame.
- Post's Malcolm Amos led the Eagles with seven points and grabbed two rebounds.
SECOND HALF
- The Setters started the second half where they left off, as Mofunanya made a strong move in the paint and forced a foul. He connected on both shots from the foul line to put the Setters up, 20-19.
- Sophomore
Ryan Peterson (Wethersfield, CT/St. Thomas More) finished a layup, and then Jusino knocked down a mid-range jump shot to push the Setters ahead by five.
- Post's Tamas Okros then connected on a jumper, but Peterson connected on one of his own a little over 40 seconds later.
- Desrosiers finished in the paint to bring the Eagles within three, but graduate student
Christian White (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute / Syracuse University) then hit a long three to push the Setters' lead to 29-23.
- Later in the half, Damani Ashton knocked down a jumper, and later a three to chip away at the Setters' advantage, dropping the lead to 33-30 with 11:45 remaining in the second.
- Savion Broissard got fouled at the 10:51 mark and connected on both shots from the charity stripe to get the Eagles within one.
- Demello then knocked down a jumper to push the Setters up by three, but Post answered with two jump shots and took its first lead of the second half by a score of 36-35.
- The Setters fought but still found themselves down one until White came up big and connected on a triple with 5:40 remaining in regulation to give the Setters a 45-43 advantage.
- Lockwood then made a jumper, but Jusino and Peterson each drilled long balls on consecutive plays and stretched the point differential to six.
- Post did not give up and went on a 5-0 run, capped off with a free throw by Okros, and the Eagles closed up the gap as Pace was up 51-50 with 2:07 left in the final frame.
- Amos took a hard drive from the top of the key and tried to get a basket in the paint with under 10 seconds to play, but White stripped the ball away for a crucial steal with two seconds remaining in the game.
- White was fouled and drained one of the two free throws, and the Setters pulled out the two-point victory.
SETTER STATS
- Jusino tied for the game-high with 13 points and contributed five rebounds, three assists and a block in Sunday afternoon's victory.
- Mofunanya tallied a team-best eight rebounds and added nine points, two assists and a rejection.
- White registered 12 points, pulled down seven boards and grabbed two steals.
- Peterson added nine points and three boards.
EAGLES LEADERS
- Amos finished with a team-best 13 points, grabbed four rebounds and dished out two assists.
- Lockwood added 11 points and tied for a team-high five boards.
RECORDS
- Pace: 3-3
- Post: 2-5
UP NEXT
- Pace will host American International College at Pace's New York City campus on Wednesday, Nov. 30. Tip-off for Wednesday's Northeast-10 Conference contest at the Civic Center Gym is set for 7:30 p.m.
- The Setters then travel to the University of New Haven for another NE-10 matchup on Sunday, Dec. 4. Tip-off is set for 1:30 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).
