Box Score IMMACULATA, Pa. - Senior
Mamadou Diakite tied his career high with 27 points, as the Immaculata University men's basketball team defeated Cairn University 74-63 on Senior Night. The Mighty Macs (11-13) improved to 9-8 in the Colonial States Athletic Conference.
In addition to his 27 points, Diakite grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds to post his 11th double-double of the season and 17th for his career. He shot 83.3% (10-12) from the floor. Freshmen
Joshua Smith recorded 11 points off the bench, while sophomore
Matt Simon registered 10 points. Junior
Rodney Duncan collected a game-high four assists.
The Highlanders (2-22, 2-15) took their only lead of the game when Reuben Lacey scored the game's first bucket. Sophomore Roy Ferrell, Jr. followed that basket with a three-point field goal to give Immaculata a 3-2 lead at 19:15. It was a lead that they extended to 39-27, a 12-point margin, at 1:17 before entering intermission with a 41-34 advantage.
Lacey opened the second half scoring for Cairn with a three-point field goal to pull the Highlanders within four (41-37). However, the Mighty Macs used a 14-3 run over the next five minutes to post a 55-40 lead with 13:49 remaining. Cairn was able to whittle the lead down to seven points twice in the final five minutes, but Immaculata held tough to earn the 74-63 win.
Darnell Clowney posted a team-high 18 points, while Lacey added 10 points and eight rebounds for the Highlanders.
The Mighty Macs return to action on Wednesday, February 18, when they travel to face Neumann University in the final regular season game of the year. Tip-off is scheduled for 7pm. Â IU needs a win over the Knights to give themselves a chance to reach the CSAC postseason for the sixth straight season. Â Currently, they are tied with Keystone for the final playoff position and Keystone has the tiebreaker advantage due to two wins over the Mighty Macs.
NOTES: Diakite has now totaled 409 career rebounds, which moved him into fifth place...he surpassed Rob Jones (405).
