BOX SCORE

IMMACULATA, Pa.- In need of a win to improve their playoff positioning, Immaculata (11-13, 10-7 CSAC) came up with a big 61-59 Senior Night victory over Neumann (12-12, 11-6 CSAC) to put a halt to a five-game losing streak and increase their chances of hosting a CSAC quarterfinal game.  Senior Nelson Torres led the way for the Mighty Macs with 22 points in his last regular season game at Alumnae Hall.  Kendall Peters, Mark Davenport, Todd Stokley, and T.J. Klinger were also celebrated on Senior Night.
 
In a game that featured big runs back-and-forth and eight second half lead changes, it was a final spurt by the Mighty Macs that gave them a lead they would hold on to.  Trailing 52-51 with 5:33 remaining, Immaculata ripped off an 8-0 run to take a 59-52 lead with 1:31 to go in the game.  Junior Jerod Cain (six points) scored the first bucket before Torres laid in the next two baskets.  Neither team scored on their ensuing possessions until junior Brandon Smith (13 points, 9 rebounds) hit a lay-up to put Immaculata up by seven points in the waning moments of the game.
 
Neumann, however, stormed back with five points over an 11-second span to slice the lead to two at 59-57 with 1:08 remaining.  Following two free throws from Klinger (10 points), the Knights answered with a pair of free throws of their own to trim the deficit to two points again at 61-59.  The Mighty Macs came up empty on the front end of a one-and-one which gave Neumann one last possession.
 
On their final attempt, Neumann's Mark Blount (13 points, 11 rebounds) had two opportunities, but both were off the mark and Immaculata's defense held on for the much needed victory.
 
The second half featured 15-0 runs by each team.  Immaculata led 32-31 after halftime, but the Knights tallied the first bucket out of the break.  From there, the Mighty Macs poured in 15 straight points with contributions from Torres, Smith, Klinger, and Davenport (team-high four assists) to take a commanding 47-33 edge with 11:44 to go.
 
That's when it was Neumann's turn to respond with their own 15-0 run led by Reggie Coleman (team-high 20 points) that gave Neumann the 48-47 lead with 7:37 left.
 
The teams would trade the lead back-and-forth a couple times before Immaculata's decisive run.
 
In the first half, the Mighty Macs started hot getting out to a 17-7 start with some three-point shooting from Peters (six points), but just as they had all night Neumann clawed their way back to make it a one-point game at the intermission.
 
With the win, Immaculata moves into a tie for fifth place with Centenary.  The Mighty Macs will wrap up the regular season with a road trip to Cairn on Wednesday evening at 8 p.m. with the hopes of locking up a home playoff matchup.
 
NOTES: The Mighty Macs earned a split with Neumann for the season after falling 70-53 at Neumann on the 14^th of January … Immaculata now has more wins than last season … This is the first season since 2009-10 that the Mighty Macs have double digit conference victories … That season the Mighty Macs were 12-6 … Klinger is now 5^th on the all-time assists list with 108, passing Kris Behm (2005-07) … Stokley is 6^th on the all-time shots blocked list with 32 rejections, passing Rob Siter (2008-12) … Smith is now the 6^th all-time leading scorer in Immaculata history with 624 points, moving past Robert Jones (2006-08) … Torres has the 9^th most points in a single season with 344.