Box Score IMMACULATA, Pa.- Men's basketball travelled to Centenary (13-10, 10-6 CSAC) looking to sweep the Cyclones and snap a three-game losing skid, but the Mighty Macs (10-12, 9-6 CSAC) fell in a tight defensive battle 52-48 to drop their fourth contest in a row.  Senior Nelson Torres almost played hero again, but two missed free throws with a chance to tie the game with three seconds remaining which allowed the Cyclones to ice the game away with a pair of free throws of their own.
 
The Mighty Macs trailed 47-43 with 2:28 to go when senior T.J. Klinger (5 points) stole the ball and senior Brandon Smith knocked down a jumper, but was unable to connect on the free throw to complete the three-point play.  Warren Murphy (11 points) hit two free throws for Centenary to extend their lead to 49-45 with 19 seconds left.
 
Klinger then came down the floor and knocked down a triple to pull the Mighty Macs within one at 49-48 with 10 seconds on the clock.  Max Hughes (game-high 15 points) converted on one of two free throws which gave the Mighty Macs a chance to tie with a two or go-ahead with a three-pointer.
 
Torres, who has twice provided last second heroics this season, missed his initial jumper, but gathered the offensive rebound and was fouled going up for the game-tying shot.  The senior missed the first free throw and with just three seconds left on the clock, he missed the second one on purpose to allow for an offensive rebound, but his attempt was unsuccessful and Centenary iced the game away with two free throws to seal the conference victory.
 
Torres recorded his fifth career double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds, while Smith recorded his sixth career double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds.  Torres eclipsed the 500-rebound mark for his career, the first Immaculata player to ever do so.
 
Each team struggled from the floor the entire game as both teams' defenses were stout throughout the contest.  Neither team shot higher than 33%.
 
Immaculata used it to their advantage in the first half to jump out to a 25-16 halftime advantage on the strength of eight points from sophomore Xavier Brown.
 
With 10:35 remaining in the first half, Smith knocked down a jumper to complete a 19-9 run to open the game as the Mighty Macs established dominance early on.  Each team then went on a scoring drought as Centenary knocked down only two free throws over the next seven minutes while the Mighty Macs went scoreless.  Smith ended the drought with a jumper to make it 21-11 with four minutes remaining as Immaculata cruised to the nine-point halftime edge.
 
In the second half, the Immaculata lead got as large as 13 points at 35-22 with 13 minutes left before Centenary went on an 18-4 run over the next nine minutes to take their first lead since the beginning of the game.  The teams would then exchange the lead four more times before the final minutes.
 
The Mighty Macs are now in 6^th place in the CSAC, one half game behind Centenary for 5^th place and one full game behind Neumann and Keystone.
 
Immaculata will look to get even with Keystone in the standings on Saturday when they take on the Giants at 5 p.m. on Saturday afternoon at Keystone.  The Mighty Macs defeated Keystone earlier this season at Alumnae Hall.
 
NOTES: Smith is now 6^th on the all-time scoring list with 594 points, eclipsing Sean Fordham (2005-09) … Smith is now also 5^th in rebounds with 364 boards, passing Jayson Hyman (2006-08) … Torres is 4^th in steals in Immaculata history with 102, moving past Robert Jones (2006-08) … Todd Stokley is now 7^th in free throws attempted with 215 … Kendall Peters is 8^th in free throws attempted with 495, moving past Jones … Smith also has the 5^th most rebounds in a single season now with 152.