Box Score

LANGHORNE, Pa.- Holding a 20-point advantage with seven minutes remaining in the game, the Immaculata men's basketball team (7-9, 5-4 CSAC) had to hold off a late rally by Cairn (1-15, 1-9 CSAC) to earn their third consecutive victory, 89-84, to surge over-.500 in league play for the first time this season.  The Mighty Macs shot the ball very well from the field at 53.1% (34-for-64), tied for third most made field goals by an Immaculata team in a game, including 7-for-14 (50%) from three-point range.
 
For the second consecutive game, junior Mamadou Diakite had a double-double, his fourth of the season, with 16 points and 11 rebounds (8 offensive) to lead the Mighty Macs to 52 points in the paint.  Freshman Roy Ferrell Jr. also had 16 points on a perfect 7-for-7 shooting night from the floor and 2-for-2 from the line.
 
Freshman Tyreek Peeples (3 steals) had 11 points, while sophomore Rodney Duncan and senior Brandon Smith (7 rebounds) had 10 points each to give Immaculata five scorers in double figures.
 
Part of the Mighty Mac success on the night was just nine turnovers, tied for a season low.
 
Diakite hit a lay-up with 7:03 to go in the game to give the Mighty Macs a 75-55 lead before the Highlanders went on a late run.  They scored 17 of the next 21 points to narrow the gap to 79-72 with 1:38 to go in the game.  Ferrell Jr. then hit a lay-up before free throws by Peeples got it to a comfortable 11-point advantage with 51 seconds left in the game.
 
Junior Barry Brockington (5 points, 9 rebounds), Duncan, and Peeples went 6-for-6 at the line in the last 32 seconds to ice the game away for the Mighty Macs despite 12 points in the final minutes for Cairn.
 
Leading 40-39 coming out of halftime, Immaculata took control of the game early in the second half with a 12-0 run in the first 3:46.  Diakite scored eight points in the run while Peeples and Ferrell Jr. chipped in lay-ups of their own to give the Mighty Macs a double digit advantage that they would maintain for a majority of the second half.
 
The Mighty Macs duplicated their performance from Monday night against Keystone where they went up 13-0 to start the game by starting this afternoon's game on a 21-9 spurt in the first seven minutes of the game.
 
Immaculata had a nine-point lead with four minutes to go in the opening half after a free throw by Smith before Cairn ripped off a 10-0 run that put the Highlanders in front 39-38, their only lead of the entire game.  Smith then hit a lay-up on the next possession to put IU in front going to the locker room.
 
Immaculata now sits in fourth place in the CSAC midway through the league schedule with nine games remaining.  They will travel to Rosemont on Wednesday looking for a season-high fourth straight victory at 8 p.m.
 
NOTES: Smith has made 299 field goals in his career, fourth most in school history, passing Dan Lepone (2005-08) … Smith also had two blocks moving him into third on the all-time list with 56, past Scott Marston (2006-08).