Box Score

READING, Pa.- The Immaculata men's basketball team travelled to Alvernia on Wednesday night looking to beat them in back-to-back seasons, but the Crusaders outscored the Mighty Macs (0-2) by a score of 34-17 in the first half, and IU was unable to climb out of the hole in a 68-59 defeat.
 
Freshman Mike Piekarski had a career-high 14 points and 11 rebounds for the first double-double of his career, along with a team-best four assists in his best game on the young season.  Junior Matt Simon equaled Piekarski with 14 points as he went 4-for-8 from behind the arc.  Junior Roy Ferrell Jr. had 13 points on 6-of-9 shooting from the field with five boards.
 
The Macs shot 33.3% (21-for-63) for the game, but allowed Alvernia to make 47.7% of their attempts from the floor.  IU outrebounded the Crusaders, 38-26.
 
Alvernia stormed out of the gate as they scored 17 of the first 21 points and took a 13 point lead just nine minutes into the game.  Piekarski and sophomore Will Chapman (5 points) had the only buckets in that stretch for the Macs.  The lead would get as large as 19 points at 25-6 with 8:12 to go in the first half before they made a push to get back into the game.
 
A quick 7-0 spurt on two field goals by Ferrell Jr. and a triple by Simon put the Macs back in the game.  Alvernia would take a 34-17 lead into the break.
 
The Crusaders kept the momentum going by scoring 11 of the first 13 points out of the break to take a commanding 45-19 advantage.  Alvernia would grow their lead to 34 points at 62-28 before both teams went scoreless from the 9:30 mark until 6:24 to go.
 
The Mighty Macs would outscore the Crusaders in the final 6:24 of the game, 31-6, but they ran out of time in the nine point loss. 
 
With 2:44 remaining, the Macs trailed by 21 points at 66-45, but they score 14 of the final 16 points.  Simon knocked down two triples, and Piekarski scored five as part of the spurt, but it wasn't enough in a 68-59 defeat.
 
The Mighty Macs will be off until next Tuesday when they travel to Cairn for their Colonial States Athletic Conference opener.