PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Playing their first home game of 2018, the Pace University men's basketball team was defeated by Merrimack College on Saturday afternoon by a score of 72-68.

Inside the Numbers
*Peyton Wejnert (Point Pleasant, NJ/Southern Regional) led Pace's attack with a game-high 19 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the floor. He also made seven of his 11 attempts from the free-throw line. In addition to the offensive numbers, Wejnert chipped in five boards and three steals.

*Greg Poleon (Brooklyn, NY/Abraham Lincoln / Coffeyville CC) and Austin Gilbertson (Etters, PA/Trinity) also reached double figures for the home team, with Poleon putting in 14 and Gilbertson notching 12. Poleon finished 7-of-9 from the floor, to go along with a team-high eight rebounds.

*Luke McLaughlin (Blauvelt, NY/Tappan Zee) led Pace in the assists department, dishing out a team-high five dimes. As a team, the Setters tallied 17 helpers—their second-highest total of the season.

*The Blue and Gold outrebounded Merrimack, 35-22. It is the second straight game that Pace has outrebounded its opponent by double digits.

*Merrimack finished the game 21-of-25 from the free-throw line compared to a 10-of-14 clip for Pace. Both teams shot nearly identical from the floor. The Setters knocked in 27-of-58 (46.6 percent) of their shots while the Warriors went 21-for-45 (46.7 percent).

How it Happened
Returning home for the first time in three weeks, the Setters enjoyed a strong start against Merrimack. A three-pointer from Gilbertson to start the game fueled a 14-6 stretch over the first five minutes of action. The Warriors responded by putting together a 12-2 stretch of their own to take their first lead at 18-16. Merrimack continued the momentum, eventually seizing their largest lead of the first half at 33-26. Pace closed nicely, however, cutting the deficit to just two at the break after a three free throws from Gilbertson with no time on the clock.

The second half saw much more back-and-forth action than the first, with neither team separating themselves by more than four points. Following ties at 44-44 and 50-50, Pace took its first lead in almost 17 minutes of game time at 52-50. The Setters retook the lead at 56-55 following a Ray Montilus (Union, NJ/Pope John XXII) layup, and then nabbed their largest edge of the second half at 62-59 after a Wejnert lay-in. Merrimack answered by rattling off nine-straight points, earning a 68-62 lead with less than a minute remaining in the game. Pace was able to cut it back down to 68-64, but the Warriors knocked down their last six free throws to put the game away.

Up Next
The Setters stay home to host Franklin Pierce on Wednesday night inside the Goldstein Fitness Center. Pace will once again bookend the NE10 doubleheader with a 7:30 start.