PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Senior forward
Austin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow / Lincoln College of NE) tallied his fourth double-double of the season, and his third in four games, as the Pace University men's basketball team fell to Stonehill College on Saturday by a score of 79-64 in Northeast-10 Conference action at the Goldstein Fitness Center.
MOFUNANYA'S BIG DAY
- Mofunanya tallied team-highs of 23 points and 11 rebounds in Saturday's matchup against Stonehill for his fourth double-double of the season.
- Over his last four games, Mofunanya is averaging 21.8 points and 10.8 rebounds, in addition to eight total blocks and three steals.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
- Stonehill jumped out to an early lead, but the Setters kept it close, trailing 14-11 at the 11:34 mark of the opening frame.
- A 13-2 run for the Skyhawks stretched their lead to 14 points with 5:52 left in the half.
- The Setters cut the deficit down to eight with under a minute until the break, but Will Moreton scored the final points of the half for the Skyhawks to give them a 40-30 edge heading into the locker room.
HALFTIME LEADERS
- Mofunanya led all players with 11 points and six rebounds at the half.
- Freshman
Ray Montilus (Union, NJ/Pope John XXII) added seven points and a game-high five assists in the first 20 minutes.
- Stonehill's Ryan Logan and Brandon Twitty each picked up 10 points in the first half.
SECOND HALF
- The Setters trailed the Skyhawks, 46-35, at the 15:35 mark of the second period.
- Mofunanya scored on back-to-back trips down the court to get Pace back within seven.
- Sophomore
Luke McLaughlin (Blauvelt, NY/Tappan Zee) laid one in to make it a five-point game, and then Mofunanya added one more layup to pull within three
- Mofunanya then found a wide open junior
Evan Gordinier (Monmouth Beach, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy), who sank a three to tie the game at 46-46 with 11:32 to play.
- A minute later, sophomore
Ryan Peterson (Wethersfield, CT/St. Thomas More) made the second of two free-throws to cap off a 12-0 run for Pace that gave them a 47-46 advantage with 10:23 on the clock.
- Stonehill's KJ Lee responded with a tough layup to put the visitors back on top.
- Lee's basket sparked the Skyhawks' offense once again, leading to four-straight three-pointers that gave them a 60-52 edge with 7:21 to go.
- Joel Berroa halted the three-point run with a layup at the 6:40 mark, but Daniel Largey hit one for the Skyhawks on the next possession to put them up by 13.
- The Skyhawks went on to finish the second half by making seven of their last nine threes to claim the win.
SETTER STATS
- Peterson was second on the team with 16 points in the game, including four three-pointers.
- Making his first start of the season, Gordinier saw 34 minutes on the court and made four triples for a total of 12 points on the afternoon.
- Montilus finished near double-figures in three separate categories, scoring nine points and tallying career-highs of eight boards and seven assists.
SKYHAWK LEADERS
- Largey went 5-of-5 from long range and 6-of-6 for the game to lead the Skyhawks with 19 points.
- Lee added 15, while Logan scored 13 and led Stonehill with eight rebounds and a game-high eight assists.
RECORDS
- Pace: 5-13 (2-8 NE10)
- Stonehill: 10-7 (5-6 NE10)
UP NEXT
- The Setters hit the road on Wednesday, Jan. 18, to visit Bentley University for another NE10 matchup in Waltham, Mass. Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m. following the women's matchup.
For all information regarding Pace University men's basketball log on to
www.PaceUAthletics.com and follow Pace men's basketball on Twitter (
@PaceMBB).
