Box Score

IMMACULATA, Pa.- The Immaculata men's basketball team saw their three-game home winning streak snapped on Saturday afternoon with an 80-69 defeat at the hands of Baptist Bible (4-7, 1-3 CSAC).  The Defenders used a 14-2 run early in the second half to take control of a close game at halftime and the Mighty Macs (4-8, 2-3 CSAC) were unable to recover.  Freshman Matt Simon had a career-high to lead the Mighty Macs with 13 points.
 
Sophomore Tyreek Peeples had 12 points, while freshman Roy Ferrell Jr. and junior Jose Ortiz chipped in with 10 points apiece.
 
Baptist Bible shot 16-for-24 (66.7%) in the second half as they built up a lead as large as 18 points on the way to the CSAC win.
 
Trailing 37-33 at the break, Ortiz hit a jumper to pull Immaculata within two after the first possession.  That's when Baptist Bible went on their 14-2 run to take a commanding 51-37 lead with 15 minutes remaining in the game.  Abe Valentine and Dan Decker each had 20 points and fueled the run.
 
Diakite hit two free throws and senior Brandon Smith (9 points) hit a lay-up, but the Defenders extended their lead up to 63-45 with 9:51 to go.  Simon then tried to will the Mighty Macs back into the game with 10 of his points in the next five minutes to cut the lead to 71-59 with 5:50 to go, however, back-to-back three-pointers by Baptist Bible put the game away.
 
IU held the advantage for much of the first half as they shot the three well early.  Ferrell Jr. and Ortiz knocked down triples to start the game and the Mighty Macs had the lead as high as five, until Baptist Bible went on a late run to take a four-point lead to the locker room.
 
The Mighty Macs will play their third straight home game on Monday night when they host undefeated Cabrini at 7 p.m.
 
NOTES: Smith had five rebounds tonight to move him into second place on the all-time rebounds list, trailing only Nelson Torres (2009-13) … Smith also is now the all-time leader in offensive rebounds with 201 … He also is third all-time in games started with 73.