Pace Paw Print

March 3, Pleasantville- The 2007-08 men's basketball season ended for Pace in its conference tournament quarterfinals match up against the Stonehill Skyhawks when they lost 60-47.

After winning with only five minutes remaining, the Setters slowly started to give up their lead.

A three pointer by junior Nick Smith with four minutes left put the Skyhawks up by three.

To extend their lead, Stonehill went on a 7-0 run before the clock hit the one minute mark. Losing by eleven, with one minute left, it was desperation time for the Setters. Sophomore Laurence McGhee rushed the ball down the court, battling to make in a lay up, still giving the Setters hope.

McGhee would strike again with 47 seconds left when he hurried for another lay up.

Unfortunately, this lay up would be last points Pace would see in their loss.

McGhee led the Setters with 12 points, and junior Randy Wilson had a double-double performance with eleven points and 13 rebounds.

Smith had a game high of 13 points for the Skyhawks. His teammates, junior Matt Hall and freshman Mike Kernan both had double-double performances. Hall scored ten points along with taking down eleven rebounds. Kernan totaled 12 points with ten rebounds.

"We were determined to win the game in hopes of making a run at the conference championship. Bring the first conference title to Pace," said Wilson.

Wilson also added, "At the end we were just trying our hardest to win. We were trying to make some good defensive plays, but we just couldn't make the shots to follow up."

In the beginning, Pace shutdown Stonehill's offense by going on a 6-0 run, shutting out the Skyhawks for the game's first five minutes.

A 7-4 run to follow would bring the score to 13-4, giving the Setters a comfortable lead.

Both teams were struggling to score, missing shot after shot. The Setters' passing and strategy was well planned, but it wasn't being reflected on the scoreboard.

The missed shots by the Setters gave the Skyhawks an opportunity to catch up, and they went on a 6-0 run which brought the score to 18-16 with three minutes remaining.

A lay up by McGhee, and another by sophomore Callum Jones gave the Setters a comfy 22-16 lead at halftime.

Coming into the second half, the Setters started to slip. A 10-4 run by the Skyhawks would tie the game at 26.

With 15 minutes left, the Setters and Skyhawks started to clash by tying twice within the next two minutes.

Pace went on a 9-2 run to give them a safe 41-34 lead.

Unfortunately, some turnovers on the Setters side of the court would blow their final lead of the game.

Pace ends its season with a 14-14 record. Stonehill will advance in the Northeast-10 conference tournament to face the #1 team in the country, Bentley, on Mar. 6 in the semifinals.

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