PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The Pace University men's basketball team dropped a back-and-forth battle with Assumption College on Saturday, 92-85, in Northeast-10 Conference action at the Goldstein Fitness Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
- Assumption took control early on, taking a 17-9 lead by the 14:24 mark.
- Graduate student
Christian White (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute / Syracuse University) cut away at the deficit with a three, and after picking up a defensive rebound, he came right back down the court and drained another to make it a two-point game.
- Trailing 19-16 just moments later, White hit yet another long ball to tie things up at 19-19.
- Freshman
Vinny Dalessandro (Levittown, PA/Conwell-Egan Catholic) followed that up with a layup to put the Setters ahead, 21-19, with 11:40 left in the half.
- Assumption tied the game up at 23-23, but back-to-back threes by sophomore
Paton Gibbs (Saugerties, NY/Saugerties) and White gave the Setters a six-point cushion.
- The Greyhounds drew even again at 39-39 with 3:12 to go in the half, but Dalessandro helped swing the momentum back to the Setters after slamming home a missed shot to put Pace back in the lead.
- White followed with a layup to make it a four-point game, but Assumption's Branislav Vujadinovi followed with a jumper to get back within two.
- Freshman
Ray Montilus (Union, NJ/Pope John XXII) then hit a mid-range jumper with 1:27 to go, accounting for the final points of the half, as the Setters took a 45-41 lead into the break.
HALFTIME LEADERS
- White led the Setters with 14 points after going 4-of-5 from three-point range in the first half. He also dished out four assists.
- Dalessandro added 11 points, a block and a steal.
- Assumption's Marcus Murray led all scorers with 15 points at the half.
SECOND HALF
- Both teams went back-and-forth for much of the second half, resulting in a 62-62 stalemate with 12:03 to play.
- Gibbs broke the tie with his third triple of the game, but Justin Tuckson quickly tied the game again for the Greyhounds.
- Murray gave the Greyhounds a 67-65 lead with 10:53 to play, but freshman
Jack McGuire (Brielle, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) nailed a three from the corner to take the lead right back.
- Tuckson followed that up with a three of his own to take the lead right back for the Greyhounds, but Montilus managed to tie with a quick layup.
- Assumption scored the next five points, but the Setters quickly erased the deficit to tie the game at 75-75 at the seven-minute mark.
- The Greyhounds followed that up with an 8-0 run to go up, 83-75, with 3:44 on the clock.
- The Setters were unable to get closer than five points the rest of the way, falling by seven to the Greyhounds.
SETTER STATS
- White and Dalessandro each finished up with season-highs of 20 and 19 points, respectively.
- White led all players with six assists, while Montilus passed out five.
- Junior
Evan Gordinier (Monmouth Beach, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) picked up 11 points and handed out three helpers.
- Sophomore
Luke McLaughlin (Blauvelt, NY/Tappan Zee) added nine points and a pair of blocks.
- The Setters shot 60.7 percent (34-of-56) from the field, and 54.2 percent (13-of-24) from three-point range.
GREYHOUND LEADERS
- Murray led all scorers with 26 points in the game.
- Karl Ziegler tallied 21 points of his own.
- Tuckson scored 15 points off the bench.
- Assumption shot 36-of-61 (59 percent) from the field, and helped themselves out by going 12-of-15 (80 percent) from the charity stripe.
RECORDS
- Pace: 5-15 (2-10 NE10)
- Assumption: 5-13 (4-8 NE10)
UP NEXT
- The Setters hit the road on Tuesday, Jan. 24, as they visit Franklin Pierce University for another NE10 matchup in Rindge, N.H. Tip-off is set for 7:30 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).
