PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – The Pace University men's basketball team went toe-to-toe with defending Northeast-10 Conference Southern New Hampshire University (SNHU) on Saturday, and hung tight with the Penmen until later in the second half in a 79-67 defeat in Northeast-10 Conference action at the Goldstein Fitness Center.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
- The highly competitive first half saw the Setters lead for nearly 19 minutes and never trail for the first 20.
- Graduate student
Christian White (Rochester, NY/Aquinas Institute / Syracuse University) broke a 5-5 tie with a jumper at the 17:30 mark, and freshman
Vinny Dalessandro (Levittown, PA/Conwell-Egan Catholic) followed with a three to put the Setters up by five.
- SNHU later got within one, but a quick 5-0 run for Pace push its lead up to six with 11:08 left in the half.
- The lead later reached its peak at seven points after sophomore
Ryan Peterson (Wethersfield, CT/St. Thomas More) drained a three at the 9:02 mark to take a 25-18 edge.
- The Setters kept the lead through the final buzzer of the first half, but SNHU's Devin Gilligan scored the final points of the period, leaving Pace up, 37-35, heading into the locker room.
HALFTIME LEADERS
- Senior
Austin Mofunanya (Englewood, NJ/Dwight Morrow / Lincoln College of NE) led the Setters with 12 points at the break.
- White added 10 points and a pair of assists.
- SNHU's Gilligan led all scorers with 15 points at the half.
SECOND HALF
- SNHU's Chris Walters made the first bucket of the second half to tie the game at 37 apiece.
- Mofunanya responded with a layup to put Pace back on top, but Gilligan sank a three to give SNHU its first lead of the game.
- The next time down the court, Gilligan hit another long ball to give the Penmen a four-point lead, but White came back down the court for two, and Mofunanya then took advantage of a turnover with a layup to tie the game at 43-43 with 13:59 to go.
- A pair of free throw put SNHU back on top, but White then nailed a three to put the Setters back in the lead.
- Walters put one off the glass to take the lead right back, but Dalessandro cleaned up a miss to give the Setters the edge once again.
- A three-point play after a foul gave SNHU a two-point advantage, but it was quickly erased after a pair of free throws by White.
- SNHU then went on a four-point run to gain some distance, but junior
Evan Gordinier (Monmouth Beach, NJ/Christian Brothers Academy) made it a one-point game with a triple.
- A pair of free throws push SNHU's lead to three, and then a three by DaQuaise Andrews gave the Penmen a six-point edge.
- Peterson hit a three to narrow the gap, but SNHU tallied the next seven to take the first double-digit lead of the game with 4:57 on the clock.
- The Setters cut it down to seven points with 2:08 to play, but the Penmen scored the final five points of the game to hang on for the win.
SETTER STATS
- Mofunanya just missed a double-double with team-highs of 18 points and nine rebounds.
- White picked up 17 points and passed out a team-best five assists.
- Peterson drained four triples and finished with 13 points and six boards.
- Dalessandro added 11 points and seven rebounds, including four offensive boards.
PENMEN LEADERS
- Gilligan led all scorers with 25 points and three steals.
- Walters added 20 points and a team-high eight rebounds.
- Charlie Russo made 3-of-4 from three-point range off the bench to finish with 12 points.
RECORDS
- Pace: 6-16 (3-11 NE10)
- SNHU: 15-4 (11-3 NE10)
UP NEXT
- Pace returns to action on Wednesday, Feb. 1, when the Setters take a short trip to Garden City, N.Y. to take on NE10 rival Adelphi University. Tip-off is slated 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).
