Box Score

SCRANTON, Pa.- The Immaculata men's basketball team picked up an improbable road win on Saturday afternoon as freshman Mike Piekarski hit a jumper in the closing seconds to send it to overtime, and the Macs went on a 7-0 run in the final minute of overtime capped off by a three-pointer by junior Matt Simon to come back for the 63-62 Colonial States Athletic Conference victory over Marywood (5-16, 1-13 CSAC) on Saturday afternoon.
 
The Macs (8-13, 7-7 CSAC) now have a three-game lead on the final playoff spot with four games remaining, and are just one game behind fifth place Centenary, and two behind fourth place Rosemont.  Immaculata will clinch a postseason spot for the seventh straight season with a win on Wednesday over Keystone and a loss by Cairn.
 
After missing the last three games due to injury, Simon returned to lead the Macs in scoring with 16 points and seven rebounds, including seven of the eight IU points in the extra frame.  Junior Roy Ferrell Jr. continued his strong play of late with his first double-double of the season with 14 points and 11 rebounds.  Ferrell Jr. is now alone in fifth place in school history with 823 points as he passed Dan Lepone (2005-08) and Julius Lopez (2005-09).  Senior Rodney Duncan added 15 points and a team-high four assists.
 
The Mighty Macs faced a steep uphill climb as they trailed the Pacers 48-39 with 8:59 left in the game and were in serious need of a rally.  Ferrell Jr. reeled off four straight, and freshman James Willis (4 points, 3 rebounds) laid one in to make it 48-45 with 5:14 to go as the IU defense held Marywood scoreless for over three minutes.
 
The Pacers would build the lead back up to six at 54-48 with 2:39 to go, but the Macs would out regulation on a 7-1 run to tie the contest.  Ferrell Jr. hit a lay-up at the 2:21 mark and Duncan knocked down a huge three with 1:30 to go to cut the deficit to one at 54-53.
 
The Macs would get a stop, but missed a pair of shots to take the lead, and Marywood would extend their lead back out to two at 55-53 with 11 seconds to go on a free throw.  The Macs had one last chance to tie the game and Piekarski delivered his only basket of the game to tie the contest at 55-55 with two seconds to go.  Marywood's Shane Letthand, who registered his 1,000^th career point in the second half, hit a three pointer, but the officials called it off as it came after the buzzer.
 
In overtime, Ferrell Jr. hit a free throw on the Macs first possession, but those were the only points for IU for the opening three minutes as Marywood took advantage to build up a 62-56 lead.  From there, it was all Macs down the stretch, specifically Simon, to seal the comeback win.
 
Simon knocked down a pair of free throws at the two minute mark, and from there, the defense forced two turnovers aside and the deficit still sat at four with under 30 seconds to go.  Simon then laid in another bucket with 24 seconds left and on the ensuing possession, the Pacers turned it over as Simon stole the ball.  He kicked it to Duncan, who missed the three pointer, but junior Michael Griffin III got the offensive board, and found Simon for the game-winning three-pointer with nine seconds to go.  The lead was the first for the Mighty Macs since the 11:37 mark of the first half when they led 9-8.
 
The Immaculata defense would ward off one last Marywood chance as the Letthand lay-up missed and the Macs completed the crucial CSAC victory.
 
The Mighty Macs will have a few days off before hosting the back-end of the Play4Kay doubleheader on Wednesday night against Keystone at 8 p.m. at Alumnae Hall.