Box Score

PITTSFORD, N.Y.- The Immaculata men's basketball team ended a 19-day lay-off as they opened play at the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa Tournament in Pittsford, N.Y. against Penn State-Behrend (8-2) on Thursday night, and despite trailing nearly the entire second half, the Mighty Macs (3-6) whittled the deficit all the way down to four, but were unable to get over the hump in a 76-68 loss in the opener.  The Mighty Macs will play Colby Sawyer at 1 p.m. in the consolation game of the tournament this afternoon.
 
Senior Roy Ferrell Jr. led the way for the Mighty Macs with 20 points on 7-of-12 shooting from the field.  Freshman Jordan Ambrose, junior transfer Eric Pittman Jr. in his first game with the Mighty Macs, senior Michael Griffin III, and senior Matt Simon all had nine points in a balanced effort for IU. 
 
The Macs struggled out of the gates, as they managed just 10 points in the opening 13 minutes and trailed 20-10 with 6:49 to go before halftime.  From there, the Macs went on a 17-2 run in a three minute span to take their largest lead of the day at 27-22.
 
Griffin III sparked the run with a pair of threes and Ferrell Jr. hit a pair of free throws to cut the deficit to two points.  After a Nittany Lion basket, junior Will Chapman hit a three and Ferrell Jr. followed with a lay-up to put the Macs in front 23-22 for the first time.  Another free throw by Ferrell Jr. and Griffin III's third triple of the half put the Macs in front 27-22.  PSU-Behrend closed the half on a 6-0 run to take a 28-27 lead to the locker room.
 
The game remained close for the early part of the of the second half with four ties, the latest coming at the 10:55 mark on a jumper by Pittman Jr. to make it 45-45, but the Nittany Lions swelled their lead to 13 at 65-52 with five minutes remaining to seemingly have control of the contest.
 
However, the Macs did not go quietly as they got the deficit down to single digits on a Pittman Jr. three with 3:26 to go, and trimmed it to four at 72-68 with 20 seconds to go, but PSU-Behrend hit four straight free throws to end the contest.
 
The Macs will now play Colby Sawyer this afternoon.  They lost 95-67 to tournament host, St. John Fisher.