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St. Mike's Men Slip in Second Half ... Fall to Pace 67-61

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Created on Wednesday, 04 January 2012 04:59

Written by George Commo

Purple Knights Slip to 4-7 overall and 3-5 in the Northeast 10

Courtesy St. Michael's Sports Information

COLCHESTER - The Saint Michael's College men's basketball team saw a second-half lead erased before its comeback bid fell short in a 67-61 loss against Pace University during a Northeast-10 Conference contest on Tuesday in the Ross Sports Center. The Purple Knights, who have now suffered four losses by six points or fewer, moved to 4-7 overall and 3-5 in the league, while Pace is 7-5 and 5-3.

Saint Michael's, which surpassed the Setters' league-leading 57.1 points allowed per game, received 18 points from sophomore Mike Holton Jr. (Portland, Ore./The Winchendon School), while junior Travis Warech (Pine Brook, N.J./Montville) approached a double-double, with 11 points and nine rebounds, as well as three assists. Senior Tyler Schilling (Excelsior, Minn./Minnetonka) and freshman James Cambronne (De Bary, Fla./The Winchendon School) each collected nine points.

Senior Justin Alston (Bronx, N.Y./Saint Raymond) hit five three-pointers off the Pace bench for a game-best 21 points, and sophomore Jonathan Merceus (Union, N.J./Union) had 10 points and 12 rebounds. Graduate student Kevin Clark (Dunmore, Pa./Dunmore/Saint John's) knocked down three threes en route to 11 points.

Holton drained a triple at 14:46 of the second half to give the hosts a 47-34 advantage, their largest of the game, before Clark scored eight straight points and Alston hit a three at 8:47 to cap a 13-4 counter, making it 51-47. Warech converted a three-point play to put Saint Michael's back up by nine, at 56-47, but Pace went on a 16-2 run that took 4:21 to elapse, with Alston's two free throws putting his team ahead 63-58 at 2:35. Freshman Corey Crawford (Dover, Del./The Phelps School) drove for a hoop with 36 seconds left to draw the Purple Knights within 63-61, but Pace scored the last four points in the final 22 seconds.

The Purple Knights fell behind by an 11-9 count 7:26 into the contest before rattling off 12 straight points in a matter of 2:12. Holton scored the final seven points, including turning in a three-point play that capped the run at 9:59 and provided a 21-11 edge. Alston's jumper at 6:57 helped the Setters creep within 22-20, but four Purple Knights scored during an ensuing 9-0 response.

Saint Michael's turned a 33-25 halftime edge into a 13-point advantage a little more than five minutes into the second stanza thanks to eight straight points at one juncture, as four players scored.

The Purple Knights begin a three-game road swing on Thursday at Saint Anselm College at 7:30 p.m.