Box Score

HACKETTSTOWN, N.J.- After qualifying for their sixth straight Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) postseason on the regular season's final day, the sixth seeded Immaculata men's basketball team hoped to claim their first playoff victory since 2012, but third seeded Centenary (15-11) outscored the Mighty Macs, 48-35, in the second half to deal IU a 72-63 season-ending defeat.
 
The Mighty Macs (12-14) held a 50-43 advantage with 9:49 remaining in the game on a three-pointer by sophomore Mike Griffin, but Centenary closed the game on a 29-13 run to end the Mighty Macs season in the CSAC Quarterfinals for the third straight year.
 
Immaculata had a quartet of players in double figures, led by senior Mamadou Diakite with 14 and he added six rebounds to tie the single season record of 224 set by Robert Jones in the 2006-07 season.  Sophomore Roy Ferrell Jr. added 12 points and junior Rodney Duncan had 10 points and two assists.  Sophomore Matt Simon was the final double digit scorer with 11 points on three triples, and six rebounds.  With his three made three-pointers, Simon established a new single season record at IU for three-pointers made with 55 and three-pointers attempted with 146.
 
For the game, Immaculata shot 39.2% (20-for-51) and knocked down eight three pointers.
 
Each team had a 5-0 run in the opening three minutes of the game with Centenary racing out to a 5-0 lead before the Mighty Macs responded with one of their own on a three by Duncan and a jumper by Ferrell Jr. 
 
Much like the previous game at Centenary earlier this season that the Cyclones won 65-61, this one was close, especially early.  IU went up 17-12 after a free throw by Diakite, but Centenary responded with a 10-0 run over the next three minutes to take a five point lead of their own, 22-17, at the 6:18 mark.
 
The Mighty Macs showed some fight as they came back with an 11-0 run to surge to a six point lead over the next three minutes.  Ferrell Jr. hit a three followed by a pair of free throws by Diakite, and then Simon took over with three-pointers on back-to-back possessions to push the Immaculata advantage to 28-22.  The Mighty Macs would take a 28-24 lead into the locker room.
 
To start off the second half, Immaculata built their lead up to six points on three different occasions in the first five minutes, but Centenary would not allow it to grow larger as they trimmed the IU lead to two or three points each time.  The Cyclones finally tied the game up at 40-40 with 12:53 to go in the game, the first time the game was tied since it was 22-22 late in the first half.
 
With the game dead-locked 40-40, Immaculata surged again with a 10-3 spurt to go up by seven points, their largest lead of the game.  Junior Ron Melton (6 points) hit a jumper on a good feed from Diakite, and after a free throw by Centenary, Duncan was fouled shooting a three-pointer and knocked down all three free throws at the line.  Junior Tony Calamaro (4 points, 4 rebounds) then knocked down a jumper and following a Centenary bucket, Griffin drilled a three pointer from the right wing that staked IU to a 50-43 advantage with 9:49 remaining.
 
That's when the Cyclones started on a big run to close the game that proved to be the difference.  They hit back-to-back three-pointers to quickly trim the lead to one, and Diakite hit a jumper to briefly halt the run, but Centenary would again score on back-to-back possessions to take their first lead since the score was 22-21 at the 5:02 mark of the first half.
 
Simon would not allow the Mighty Macs to go away as he took an inbounds in the right corner and hit a fall away three-pointer that gave Immaculata a lead at 55-53 with 7:20 remaining, but it would be the last lead IU would have.
 
Centenary went on a 9-0 run over the next 2:13 to take a 62-55 lead that the Mighty Macs were unable to recover from.  IU would battle as they started to go to the free throw line, but Centenary responded on their end of the floor and never allowed the Mighty Macs to get closer than five points.  Duncan hit a jumper with 30 seconds to go that was the first made basket for the Mighty Macs since the 7:20 mark, a drought of 6:50.
 
The Cyclones would close out the Macs, 72-63, to give them a final record of 12-14.
 
NOTES: Diakite finishes his Immaculata career as the seventh leading scorer with 678 points and the fifth leading rebounder with 423 boards … Duncan finishes the season with the third most assists in team history in a season with 71 … Immaculata also set team records this year for three pointers made in a season (175) and three pointers attempted (574).