Men’s Basketball Drops Heartbreaker in Final Seconds

The following was submitted by the Pace University athletic department. To learn how to post your news on Patch, click here.

PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y.- Jonathan Merceus (Union, NJ/Union) recorded a double-double with a career-high 26 points along with 10 rebounds as the Setters dropped a heartbreaker 70-69 to the Clippers of Concordia College in non-conference action. The Setters fall to 6-4 on the season, while the Clippers improve to 6-10.

The first half got off to a slow start as the Setters held slim edge on the scoreboard at 16-11 at the halfway mark following a basket by Keon Williams (Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack/Iona College). The Clippers battled back to even the score at 16 but Pace took a two point lead at 27-25 with 5:55 left in the first half. The Setters raced to the end of the first half as they went on a 10-0 run to close out the first half to pull ahead 37-25 at the break.

Concordia rallied back early in the second half and pulled even at the midway point on a trey to knot the score at 46. The teams traded baskets for the rest of the way with the Clippers keeping the score close as they pulled even again at 63 with 3:05 on the clock. The Setters ripped off the next six points to build a 69-63 lead with 1:18 remaining in the game. The Clippers rallied in the final minute as Norman Pope netted the game-winning three-pointer with :00.4 on the clock to give Concordia the win.

For the Setters, Merceus netted a double-double, setting a new career-best of 26 points, surpassing his previous high of 25 points set earlier this season against Bloomfield. Williams also finished with a double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds for Pace, while Denzel Primus-Devonish (Riverdale, MD/St. John's College) added 10 points and four assists.

The Setters are back in action for their first game of the 2013 calendar year as they will travel to West Haven, CT for a Northeast-10 Conference game against the University of New Haven at 1:30 pm on Saturday, Jan. 5.