MEN'S HOOP FALLS IN REGULAR SEASON FINALE
PLEASANTVILLE, NY (February 20, 2007)- In their final
regular season game, the Pace University men's basketball team
defeated Northeast-10 Conference foe American International
College, 74-64, tonight at the Goldstein Health, Fitness and
Recreation Center on the Pleasantville campus of Pace University.
The Setters finish the season with an overall record of 19-11 and
15-7 in the NE-10, while the Yellow Jackets end the year at 15-12
overall and 13-9 in conference play.
Despite the loss, AIC has earned the No. 5 seed in the Northeast-10 Tournament and will host 12th-seeded Merrimack in a first round tournament game Saturday at 2:00 pm.
Leading the visiting Yellow Jackets was Vernon
Dupree, who scored a team-high 15 points on 7-for-16 shooting from
the field. Magen McNeil recorded a double-double with 10 points and
a game-high 15 rebounds. Jenar Harrison also added 10 points, while
Aikeem Vanderhorst recorded 13 rebounds.
The Setters took control of the game from the tip, following a
three-pointer from freshman Carlos Howard (Fort Washington,
MD/Gonzaga College High), and never looked back as Pace never
trailed in the contest. The closest the Yellow Jackets would get
was a tie at 9 with 14:19 remaining in the first half. Pace would
use a 26-11 run following the tie to build a 15-point advantage,
35-20, their largest lead of the half. Ryan Williams (Centreville,
VA/Paul VI) and Lawrence McGhee (Linden, NJ/Linden) lead the run
combining for 17 of the 26 points, scoring nine and eight points
respectively. The Setters would take a 37-23 lead heading into the
break. The stingy Pace defense held American International to just
28.1% (9-for-32) shooting from the field in the first half,
including 2-for-9 from three.
Pace continued to build upon their lead in the second half as they
took an 18-point lead, 63-45, with 8:04 remaining, on a three-point
play from junior Gibraltar White (Gautier, MS/Gautier). The Yellow
Jackets would attempt a comeback as they chipped their deficit to
six, 66-60, with 3:27 left in the ballgame with the help of a 15-3
run. Mike Troll led the run scoring 7 of the 15 points. The Setters
would hold off any comeback attempt as Pace outscored AIC
eight-to-four to finish off the game.
Leading the Setters to victory were Williams and White, who each
scored 16 points. Williams went 5-for-13 from the field, including
4-for-10 from beyond the arc and 2-for-4 from the line, while White
shot 6-for-13 from the field, including 1-for-5 from downtown and
3-for-5 from the charity stripe. McGhee and Desmond Quincy-Jones
(Rye, NY/Rye) finished the night with 11 and 12 points
respectively. McGhee also dished out five assists. Morgan grabbed a
team-high nine rebounds, to go along with five points.