PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. (Jan. 5, 2019) – Despite redshirt sophomore Bryan Griffin (Pomona, N.Y./Saint Joseph Regional) and graduate student Tawayne Anderson Jr. (Freeport, N.Y./Merrimack College) scoring in double figures, the Mercy College men's basketball team dropped a 67-61 decision to Pace University on Saturday afternoon at the Goldstein Fitness Center.
The Mavericks (4-8) have dropped three games in a row, while the Setters (10-4) sweep the season series with Mercy.
Griffin recorded his eighth double-double of the season by way of 16 points and ten rebounds on 6-of-12 shooting. Anderson Jr. had 14 points and nine rebounds and senior Sal Barbetto (New City, N.Y./Rockland CC) poured in eight points.
Pace was led by Peyton Wejnert who had a game-high 17 points.
Mercy started the game with a 6-1 lead at the 16:15 mark of the first half after an Anderson jumper. The Mavericks held a three-point lead, 14-11, with 12:32 left in the opening half after a pair of free throws from freshman Dondre Barnes (Atlanta, Ga./South Atlanta).
The Setters came back with four straight points to take a 15-14 advantage with 10:56 on the clock. Mercy responded with a 9-2 run to take their largest lead of the game, 23-17, with 6:26 remaining in the half after two Lamont Williams Jr. (Irvington, N.J./County College of Morris) free throws.
Pace ensued with an 8-1 run to take the lead back at 25-24, but a layup from Anderson put Mercy back in front, 26-25, with four minutes left in the half. The Setters went on a 5-0 run to build a 30-26 lead and headed into halftime up, 32-29.
Back-to-back baskets from the Setters to start the second half made it 36-29, leading to a Mercy timeout at the 18:45 mark. Out of the timeout, the Mavericks cut the deficit to five on two different occasions but the hosts built the lead to nine, 44-35, with 15:15 remaining.
A Griffin layup with 11:30 remaining once again made it a five-point game, 46-41, but the Setters answered again with a 6-0 run to increase the lead to double-digits, 52-41, with 8:50 on the clock. Pace put the lead to a game-high 12 points, 57-45, with 6:16 remaining and looked to be pulling away. However, the Mavericks did not give up and followed with a 10-1 to make it a one-possession game, 58-55, with 3:32 left.
Pace came back with five straight points to build the lead to eight, 63-55, with 1:13 left in the contest and the Mavericks could not get closer than six points the rest of the way.
Mercy shot 39.7 percent (23-of-58) from the floor, 10.5 percent (2-of-19) from downtown and 92.9 percent (13-of-14) from the foul line. Pace shot 45.3 percent (24-of-53) from the field, 8.3 percent (1-of-12) from beyond the arc and 62.1 percent (18-of-29) from the charity stripe. Mercy held a 42-29 edge on the boards and a 15-2 advantage in second chance points. Pace held a 15-6 edge in points off turnovers and a 40-32 advantage in points in the paint.
Head Coach Michael Maczko and the Mavericks resume action on Wednesday, January 9th when they play at Bridgeport at 7 p.m.
