Box Score

RADNOR, Pa.- Trailing 82-75 with just 53 seconds to go in the game, the Immaculata men's basketball team (6-5, 4-0 CSAC) staged a great comeback over the final seconds by scoring seven straight points to tie the game, and after Cabrini (6-6, 3-2 CSAC) scored to briefly take the lead, sophomore Matt Simon drilled a deep three-pointer from the wing in the closing seconds to lift Immaculata to an 85-84 victory at Cabrini.  The victory kept the Mighty Macs as the only unbeaten team in the CSAC.
 
The one-point CSAC victory was their third one-point conference win of the season (61-60 vs. Marywood, 65-64 vs. Rosemont) to go along with a three-point win against Baptist Bible, as the Mighty Macs have shown the ability to come up with big plays late in the game.
 
Junior Ron Melton led all scorers in the game with a career-high 24 points, while sophomore Roy Ferrell Jr. had 16 points and five boards.  Senior Mamadou Diakite grabbed his tenth career double-double with 11 points and 12 boards, while sophomore Mike Griffin had a career-high 11 points, and Simon had 11 as well, including the game-winner.
 
Junior Rodney Duncan added seven points and a team-high six assists.
 
The Mighty Macs trailed by as many as 12 late in the game at 76-64 with just under five minutes to go when they began clawing their way back.  Melton scored five straight points on two free throws and a triple to make it 76-69 until Cabrini converted a jumper to extend their lead to 78-69 with 2:37 remaining.
 
The teams would continue to trade baskets all the way up to the one minute mark when Simon knocked down two free throws to make it 81-75.  Cabrini would make a free throw with 53 seconds left as Immaculata was attempting to extend the game, and the Cavaliers had an 82-75 lead with 53 seconds remaining.
 
After a missed lay-up, Griffin drilled his third three pointer of the game on an inbounds play to slice the deficit to four at 82-78.  IU then turned up the defensive pressure and Melton got a steal which led to a lay-up and just a two-point game.
 
The Cavaliers called a timeout, and out of the timeout, freshman Joshua Smith got a steal on a trap in the corner and quickly drove to the basket, finishing the lay-up and tying up the game 82-82 with 16 seconds left.  Cabrini immediately inbounded the ball on a long outlet pass and converted the lay-up with 11 seconds to go to put the Cavaliers back in front 84-82 in a wild sequence.
 
That set up IU's final play, when out of a timeout, Simon took the long three from the right wing and drilled it to give IU an 85-84 lead with 4.8 seconds to go.  Cabrini's last ditch effort by Howard Blake III came up short to give Immaculata the improbable one-point win.
 
The first half was played very tight as neither team led by more than five, and the lead changed five times, until a late three gave Cabrini the 39-33 advantage at the break.
 
In the second half, a three by Simon with 13:45 to go gave Immaculata a 52-51 lead, but they briefly held that before Cabrini took control and ran their lead up to 12 points prior to the closing heroics.
 
Immaculata will look to continue their strong conference play on Saturday when they host Gwynedd Mercy at 1 p.m.
 
NOTES: The Mighty Macs have now won two of the past three games they have played at Nerney Field House as they claimed a 66-60 victory on December 5^th, 2012 which snapped a 44-game CSAC winning streak at the time … Diakite is now 10^th all-time in rebounds in school history with 290 … Diakite also moved into 9^th in free throws attempted in a career with 205 … Simon is now 9^th all-time in three-pointers attempted with 151 … Duncan and Simon are tied for 9^th in their careers in three-pointers made with 47 ... Duncan also recorded the 100th assist of his career which ties him for 9th in program history.