PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Trailing in the second half until the final minute, the Pace University men's basketball team scored eight unanswered points over the last 90 seconds of regulation to defeat Goldey-Beacom College on Wednesday night, 70-65. The victory improves the Setters' record on the season to 3-9.

Inside the Numbers
*Brandon Jacobs (Cambria Heights, NY/Long Island Lutheran) led the Pace attack on the night with 19 points. Jacobs shot 6-of-8 from the field, resulting in a season-best shooting percentage. The freshman has reached double-digits in all but one game this season, and now leads the Setters with 15.7 points per game.

*Junior Greg Poleon (Brooklyn, NY/Abraham Lincoln / Coffeyville CC) was the only other member of the Blue and Gold to reach double-digit point figures, scoring 13 points on the night. It was his best offensive performance since Nov. 26 against Post University.

*Pace won the rebound battle by a 36-27 margin, picking up eight boards off the offensive glass. Poleon and Luke McLaughlin (Blauvelt, NY/Tappan Zee) led the team with two offensive rebounds apiece. McLaughlin led the team with eight total boards in the contest.

*The Blue and Gold defense forced 17 turnovers by the Lightning, their highest takeaway total in the past seven games. The Setters were helped by six steals, with sophomore Ray Montilus (Union, NJ/Pope John XXII) leading the squad with two.

*Limited to just a single shot from the free-throw line in the first half, the Setters executed on their foul shots in the second half. Pace was 13-of-15 from the charity stripe over the final 20 minutes, with Jacobs and Poleon combining for a perfect eight-for-eight on free-throw attempts.

*The Setters had their best shooting game as a team in their last six contests, sinking 53 percent of their shots from the field. It was their third best shooting performance of the season, and Pace is now 3-0 in games where they shoot 50 percent or better.

*Conversely, the Pace defense held Goldey-Beacom to a .362 shooting percentage, the lowest mark by an opponent this year. The Lightning were just 11-of-31 in the second half.

How it Happened
It was a slow start offensively for both teams, as Pace and Goldey-Beacom combined for just seven points over the opening eight minutes of the contest. Holding a 4-3 advantage for two minutes without a basket, the Setters offense started to gel as the half progressed, building up to a 13-6 lead with nine minutes left in the half. The Lightning found their rhythm shortly after, scoring eight unanswered to take the lead. A Pace bucket by Kevin Seymour (Bronx, NY/Blair Academy / Central Connecticut State University) put an end to the run temporarily, but Goldey-Beacom responded with another 11 unanswered points to take a 25-15 lead. The Blue and Gold managed to chip away to bring the score to within five, but the Lightning scored four points in the final minute of the half to go up 31-22 at the break.

The Lightning were able to work with their nine-point cushion for a majority of the half, seeming to pull back away whenever the Setters managed to start building momentum. Pace would cut the game down to a single possession six minutes into the half, but the Lightning outscored the Setters 15-7 over the following five and a half minutes to go up 56-45, their biggest lead of the day.

A Setter timeout following the Lightning layup that capped the run proved to be the momentum shift Pace needed in the half. The Setters would close out the final eight minutes by outscoring Goldey-Beacom, methodically chipping away at the Lightning lead. A Kevin Smith (New Haven, CT/South Kent) layup with two minutes left pulled the Setters to within a single point. The Lightning reclaimed some distance with two free throws, but Austin Gilbertson (Etters, PA/Trinity) scored his first points of the night with a jumper, followed by a three pointer a half a minute later to give the Setters their first lead in over 26 minutes. The Setters sunk three free throws to close out the game, and earn the 70-65 victory.

Up Next
Pace looks to make it two wins in a row when they return to the Goldstein Fitness Center on Saturday afternoon. The Setters host the Tigers from Holy Family University with tipoff scheduled for 3 p.m.