CENTER VALLEY, Pa. – Kyle Finklea poured in 16 points to lead the Immaculata men's basketball team to a 64-62 victory against John Jay College in the consolation game of the DeSales Holiday Tournament on Sunday afternoon in Billera Hall.
Finklea finished the game with 16 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals. The senior guard earned a spot on the all-tournament team after amassing 24 points and 16 rebounds during the weekend.
Immaculata (3-5) scored the opening four points of the contests before John Jay (3-9) got on the scoreboard at the 17:04 mark. It was a back-and-forth affair as both teams had leads as many as three before Sean Fordham sunk a three-pointer with 11:24 remaining in the first half to knot the score at 13-all.
The Mighty Macs jumped ahead 20-13 with 9:54 to play in the opening stanza on a 7-0 spurt that took just 1:30. However, the Bloodhounds scored 10 straight points including the first eight points of the run from Miguel Garcia, to regain the advantage, 23-20, with 6:16 still to play in the half.
Julius Lopez nailed a three-pointer at the 3:59 mark to tie the score, 25-25, for the fourth time during the first half. That basket began an 11-point run for the Mighty Macs, and Immaculata led, 34-27, at intermission. Immaculata held John Jay to just one bucket during the final four minutes of the first half, leading to halftime advantage.
Immaculata pushed its advantage to double digits, 40-29, just under three minutes into the second stanza. John Jay, however, had cut Immaculata's margin to just four, 40-36 by the 14:54 mark. The Bloodhounds continued to trim away at the lead, trailing by two, 45-43, with 12:57 remaining in the game.
The Mighty Macs were able to keep the Bloodhounds at bay by at least four, 58-54, until the 5:32 mark. Chris Jaeger had a layup for John Jay cutting the margin to four. Jaeger's six points and a free throw from Garcia combined for seven unanswered points for the Bloodhounds, and John Jay led, 59-58, with 3:49 remaining in the contest.
However, that would be John Jay's only lead of the second half as Robert Siter and John Boyd each hit jumpers, and the Mighty Macs' 2-for-4 effort from the foul line during the final 1:07 would be all they needed to seal the victory.
Fordham finished the contest with 11 points, five assists and two steals. Joe Slavick led the Mighty Macs on the glass with 10 rebounds and seven points while Josh Alderson added eight points and five rebounds.
Jaeger led John Jay with a game-best 19 points and 14 rebounds, and Garcia tallied 17 points.
Immaculata returns to the conference slate on Jan. 10, traveling to Keystone for a 3 p.m. tip.
