Box Score

GWYNEDD VALLEY, Pa.- Despite suffering an 88-79 defeat at the hands of first place Gwynedd Mercy (17-6, 15-1 CSAC) on Saturday afternoon, the Mighty Macs (9-14, 8-8 CSAC) clinched their seventh consecutive Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) postseason berth by virtue of a Cairn loss to Centenary.
 
At the Griffin Complex, the Macs shot 25-for-50 (50%) from the field and 12-for-20 (60%) from beyond the arc, but they turned the ball over 20 times in the loss.  The Mighty Macs would dominate the first half, getting their lead to as large as 14 points, but the Griffins dominated the early part of the second half and IU was unable to recover.
 
Four Mighty Macs scored in double figures led by junior Roy Ferrell Jr. with 18 points on 5-for-7 shooting from the field and 3-for-4 from three-point range, and a career-best 18 points (7-for-7 FG) from freshman James Willis, who also chipped in a team-high six boards.  Senior Rodney Duncan had 13 points (3-for-5 from three), and junior Matt Simon had 10 points.  Senior Tony Calamaro and freshman Mike Piekarski tied for the team lead with four assists apiece.
 
The Mighty Macs fired out of the gates with six of the first eight points to go up 6-2, and that lead would grow to 17-9 five minutes into the game after a run fueled by threes from Ferrell Jr. and Duncan.  The Griffins would trim the IU lead to three points at 17-14, but the Macs ripped off 10 straight points as Gwynedd went scoreless for over six minutes.
 
Duncan knocked down a pair of free throws, sophomore Will Chapman hit a jumper, senior Ron Melton a three, and Ferrell Jr. capped it with a triple of his own to make it 27-14 with eight minutes to go before half.  Gwynedd would try to cut into the advantage, but IU would grow the lead as large as 14 at 43-29 after a free throw form Melton with 2:42 before half.
 
The Griffins then closed out the first half on a 10-2 run, much like they did in the first meeting between the teams and IU went to half up 45-39.
 
Gwynedd would take that momentum and grab their first lead at 48-47 with 14:54 to go before half.  The Macs would go up 50-48, but that was their final lead of the day as Gwynedd would outscore the Macs 28-11 over a four minute stretch to take their largest lead at 76-61 with 6:23 left in the game.
 
The Macs would only get as close as nine with the final score of 88-79.
 
IU will return home on Wednesday night looking to improve their postseason seeding when they host Rosemont for Senior Night at 6:30 p.m.  They are currently two games behind fourth place Rosemont and one behind fifth place Centenary.
 
NOTES: Simon is now second all-time in made three-pointers in a career with 126 as he passed Kyle Finklea (2005-09) … As a team, the Mighty Macs have a new team record of 194 made triples in one season, passing last year's record of 175 … Duncan has now made the second most three-pointers in a season with 52.