Pace Paw Print

Feb. 23, Pleasantville- After staying evened up with the Dolphins of Le Moyne College for the first half, the Pace Setters displayed good shooting in the second half and held on to their 80-72 win.

This win was Pace's fourth straight, and it makes them even closer to one of the top four spots in the upcoming Northeast-10 (NE-10) Conference tournament.

For the Setters, sophomore guard Laurence McGhee helped his team out by ending the game with a double-double. He scored a game-high of 17 points, along with passing out a game-high of ten assists.

Sharing the double-double spotlight with McGhee was senior forward Desmond Quincy-Jones. Quincy-Jones totaled 14 points and led the Setters in rebounds by taking down ten.

Even the Dolphins had a double-double performer of their own. Sophomore forward Laurence Ekperigin totaled a team high of 16 points along with a team high of ten rebounds.

Within the game's first two minutes the schools were battling it out, with no result shown on the scoreboard.

Just as the clock hit the 18 minute mark, senior guard Ryan Williams battled to tip the ball in, giving the Setters a 2-0 opening lead.

The Setters and Dolphins battled it out to a 7-7 tie within the next three minutes, and the Dolphins looked to take control from there by going on a 13-4 run, making the score 20-11.

Just as it looked like the Dolphins were going to take early control of this game, the Setters fought right back by tying up the game at 28 after a crowd pumping three pointer from sophomore guard Carlos Howard.

After the three point shot from Howard, the Setters maintained a small lead which would get cut down by a three pointer from Dolphins senior guard Jason Holmes which tied the game up at 32.

With one minute left in the first half, both teams were looking to go into the locker rooms at half time with the lead.

A lay up, fought for by junior forward Jon Jones, gave the Setters a two point lead. Unfortunately for the Setters, senior center Dan Cromwell answered right back for the Dolphins, by hitting a jumper to tie the game before halftime.

With the game tied up at 34 during halftime, both schools were looking to come out and take control.

A lay up for junior forward Randy Wilson gave the Setters a 36-34 to begin the final half.

Pace was able to shut out Le Moyne for the first four minutes of the second half, scoring eight points in the process.

The scoring drought for the Dolphins was ended by Ekperigin who sunk in a lay up. Even with the drought broken, the Setters still continued to slowly distance themselves from the Dolphins.

With about 12 minutes remaining in the game, the Setters held a 51-43 lead. Ekperigin was able to slip past the Setters' defenders for a dunk which brought life back to the Dolphins. He followed it up with another dunk on the next Dolphins possession and the Dolphins deficit was trimmed to four points.

After almost losing their lead with the score at 54-52, Pace went on an 11-2 point run, bringing the score to 65-54 and solidifying their lead once again.

As the Dolphins started to crawl back, the Setters came right back at them as both teams traded shot for shot. Eventually the trading of shot gave the Setters a 14 point lead with under two minutes in the game.

Le Moyne was still not willing to go down quietly. The Dolphins crept back to a ten point deficit with only 38 seconds left.

Even though the game appeared to be out of reach, Coach Steve Evans of the Dolphins kept calling timeouts and making his players foul the Setters to conserve time in hopes of at least tying the game.

This strategy worked for awhile as Le Moyne worked Pace's lead down to five points with a 77-72 score with 13 seconds left.

After getting fouled, a free throw made by senior guard Gibraltar White sealed the game for the Setters, as they pulled out the 80-72 victory.

The win for the Setters improves their overall record to 13-13 and 12-9 in the NE-10.

With the loss, Le Moyne falls to 14-13 overall and 12-10 in the NE-10.

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