Pace Basketball Teams Come Up Short vs. Bentley

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Men

WALTHAM, Mass.- The Setters dropped a heartbreaking setback to the Falcons of Bentley University 61-60 in Northeast-10 Conference action. Pace falls to 7-6 overall and 4-5 in the NE-10, while the Falcons improve to 6-7 and 4-5 in conference play.

The Falcons raced out to an 11-4 lead in the first three minutes of the game. The Setters rallied to take a 12-11 lead over the next two minutes with teams trading baskets over the ensuing six minutes of play. Bentley pulled ahead by double digits with a 10-0 run to take a 25-15 lead with 7:16 remaining in the game.

Pace came on strong to finish the half with a 15-3 run to close out the half to take a two-point lead into halftime. Jonathan Merceus (Union, NJ/Union) netted four points, while Keon Williams(Hackensack, NJ/Hackensack/Iona College) had a key three-point play in the rally. Chris Frank (Washington, DC/DeMatha) added four points, including a put-back at the buzzer to give the Setters a 30-28 lead at the break.

Bentley battled back early in the second half as they held a 34-33 edge in the first two minutes of play. The Setters use a 17-3 run to take back the lead and extend to a 50-37 advantage. Denzel Primus-Devonish (Riverdale, MD/St. John's College) put the Setters back in front with the trifecta as he finished with seven points in the run, while Williams added six points to give the Setters a 13 point lead with 12:51 left in the game.

The Falcons rallied behind hot shooting from long range as they connected on four three-pointers over a five minute stretch with a put back at the 1:24 mark to give them a 59-58 lead. Merceus put the Setters back in front by one on a jumper with 22.6 on the clock but at pair of Falcon free throw with 9.4 to play gave Bentley a 61-60 lead. Pace fell short as they had two potential game-winning lay-ups rim out as time expired as the Setters came up short.

For Pace, Merceus led the Setters with 21 points and 13 rebounds along with two steals. Primus-Devonished added 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Williams totaled 14 points and five boards.

The Setters are back in action as they will travel to Manchester, NH for a Northeast-10 Conference game against Saint Anselm College on Tuesday, January 15 at 7:30 pm.

Women

Pleasantville, N.Y.- Three Setters scored in double-digits but was not enough to hold off the Falcons of Bentley University, 53-69.  The Setters slip to 7-5 overall and 5-3 in the NE-10 while the undefeated Falcons advance to 12-0 overall and 8-0 in the conference. 

Pace started off from behind as the Falcons started off on a 7-2 run before the Setter were able to tie it up at 11:53 on a jump shot from Yuni Sher(Poughkeepsie, NY / Long Island Lutheran).  The Falcons then took off on a 16-0 run before the Setters started chipping away at the deficit with five minutes left in the half.  Three-point field goals from Jessica Scannell (Cork, Ireland / St. Vincents) and Jeane Drury (Flanders, NJ / Morris Catholic) helped minimize the point differential to as little as five points with two minutes to the half but went into halftime down, 36-26.

The Setters went 10-28 from the field, 4-7 from three point range and 2-4 from the free-throw line in the first half while the Falcons went 12-22, 5-7 and 7-13 respectively. 

The second half consisted of the Setters making a comeback after going down as much as 12 points five minutes into the half.  A jump shot from Scannell and Sherand a three-point field goal from Margo Hackett (Pawling, NY / Pawling) all within a minute and a half helped the Setters gain momentum and come within five points of the Falcons, 36-41.  The Setters trailed closely on the Falcons tails over the next five minutes before the Falcons expanded the point differential by more than ten and rounded out the game at 69, 53.

Pace finished the game shooting 39.3% from the field, 14.3% from three-point range and 66.7% from the free-throw line.  Bentley shot 50% from the field, 28.6% from the outside and 60% from the line. 

Courtney Finn finished with 14 points and seven rebounds for Bentley while Kelsey Roberson finished with 13 points and Lauren Battista with ten points. Tyler Parker Kimball led the boards for the Falcons with nine rebounds. 

Scannell finished with 13 points, two assists and two steals for the Setters whileBrittany Shields (Cold Spring, NY/Haldane) finished with 12 points, five rebounds and five assists.  Sher contributed ten points, seven rebounds and two steals.

The Setters will travel to St. Anselm College for a 5:30 pm match up on Tuesday, January 15.