PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – A big run by the Pace University men's basketball team in the latter minutes of Wednesday's contest put them in the lead, but a late rally for Northeast-10 Conference-leading Southern Connecticut State University (SCSU) gave the Owls a 68-63 victory at the Goldstein Fitness Center.
LGBTQ PRIDE HOOPS NIGHT
Throughout the evening, the first-ever LGBTQ Pride Hoops Night was celebrated at the Goldstein Fitness Center. The first 300 fans in attendance received special Pace Pride Hoops t-shirts.
Pace alumnus and LGBT activist Anthony Nicodemo, one of the driving forces in making Pride Hoops Night a possibility, joined Setter Nation for Wednesday evening's event, and was presented with a community service award on behalf of Pace Athletics. Nicodemo is the head boys basketball coach at Saunders High School and director of the Lower Hudson Basketball Coaches Association. He serves on the advisory boards for Center Lane LGBTQ Youth Center and the City of Yonkers, and is a member of the Board of Directors for the Sports Equality Foundation.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
- The Setters went toe-to-toe with the first-place Owls early on in Wednesday's matchup, taking a four-point lead after back-to-back layups by freshman
Ray Montilus (Union, NJ/Pope John XXII) and senior
Austin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow / Lincoln College of NE).
- The Owls then scored the next four points to tie the game at 16-16 with 10:11 to go in the opening half.
- SCSU's Joey Wallace gave the Owls the lead with a layup, but graduate student
Christian White (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute / Syracuse University) responded with a three just 21 seconds later to put Pace back up by one.
- Michael Mallory, the conference's leading scorer, netted his first points of the game after hitting a contested three at the 8:22 mark, giving the Owls a two-point edge.
- The Setters tied the game on a pair of free throws by freshman
Peyton Wejnert (Point Pleasant, NJ/Southern Regional), but the Owls then went on a 6-0 run to grab a 27-21 lead.
- The Owls kept their distance for the remainder of the opening frame, taking an eight-point lead into the locker room at 38-30.
HALFTIME LEADERS
- White led the Setters with 10 points, including a pair of threes, in the first 20 minutes.
- Mofunanya grabbed a game-high seven rebounds.
- Jerry Luckett, Jr. topped the Owls with 10 points and six boards at the break.
SECOND HALF
- The Setters quickly cut the deficit in half with back-to-back baskets for sophomore
Ryan Peterson (Wethersfield, CT/St. Thomas More) and Mofunanya.
- The Owls later led by 10 after Wallace drained a three at the 10:55 mark, making it a 53-43 game.
- Later, Mallory laid one in to once again make it a 10-point game at 55-45 with 7:35 on the clock.
- Mofunanya quickly hit a layup off a dish from White on the next possession.
- Wallace drew a foul the next time down the court, but only made 1-of-2 to keep the game within single digits.
- They Setters then caught fire, scoring on each of their next four possessions.
- Montilus took advantage of back-to-back offensive boards, scoring on his third chance to make it a seven-point deficit.
- Wejnert swiped one away from Wallace, and ran the distance of the court for a fast-break layup to get within five.
- SCSU's Isaiah McLeod missed a three, leading to Mofunanya putting two more on the board to make it a one-possession game at 56-53.
- Mallory was unable to get a jumper to go, and
Christian White (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute / Syracuse University) came down with it, pushed the ball up the court, and pushed through the lane and managed to slip one into the basket to leave the Setters down just a point with 4:29 left to play.
- 60 seconds went by before the Owls were able to score the next two point of the game on a pair of free throws by Luckett.
- Peterson quickly made it a one-point game once again with a jumper in the paint.
- After Mallory threw one away, the Setters came down the court, and White set up Peterson for a rainbow three that hit nothing but net to give the Setters their first lead of the second half by a score of 60-58 with 2:13 left in regulation.
- The lead did not last long, as Luckett made a three of his own just 30 seconds later to put the Owls back on top by one.
- Pace was unable to score on two separate tries, and McLeod sank another three for the Owls to make it a four-point game.
- Mofunanya drew a foul with 37 seconds on the clock, but was only able to make the back end of his two chances.
- The Setters fouled until the Owls reached the bonus, sending Mallory to the line for a one-and-one with 22 ticks on the board.
- Mallory missed the first try, but Luckett powered in to grab the rebound and kept the ball after a jump ball was called.
- Luckett was then fouled after the ball was put back in play, and made both shots to put the Owls back up by five with 19 seconds left.
- Mofunanya then drew another foul with eight seconds to go, making both shots to make it a one-possession game.
- Montilus quickly fouled McLeod in the back court, but he was good on both chances from the charity stripe, securing a five-point win for the visitors.
SETTER STATS
- Mofunanya scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half, and finished with 12 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.
- White finished with 13 points and dished out three assists.
- Peterson and Wejnert also scored in double figures, matching each other with 11 points.
- Redshirt sophomore
Mike Demello (Mohegan Lake, NY/White Plains) passed out a team-high four assists.
OWL LEADERS
- Luckett finished up with 17 points and nine rebounds to lead the Owls to the win.
- Wallace added 16 points and a team-best four helpers.
- McLeod tallied 13 points on the evening.
- Mallory contributed just 11 points after entering the game averaging an NE10-best 25.8 points per game.
RECORDS
- Pace: 4-5 (1-4 NE10)
- SCSU: 8-2 (5-0 NE10)
UP NEXT
- The Setters stay home to take on NE10 rival Adelphi University at the Goldstein Fitness Center on Saturday, Dec. 10. The game is set to tip off at 3:30 p.m.
- Saturday will be Rally Towel Day, and the first 400 fans in attendance for the women's and men's basketball doubleheader will receive replica court rally towels.
For all information regarding Pace University men's basketball log on to
www.PaceUAthletics.com and follow Pace men's basketball on Twitter (
@PaceMBB).
