Box Score

DOVER, Del.- The Immaculata men's basketball team (4-5) erased a seven-point halftime deficit and held leads late in the second half, but Wesley (4-6) slowly pulled away late and dealt the Macs an 82-75 defeat in an afternoon contest on Wednesday to wrap up the 2017 portion of the IU schedule.
 
The Mighty Macs were paced by junior Mike Piekarski with 20 points and nine rebounds while senior Will Chapman had 14, sophomore Jordan Ambrose had 13, and freshman Brandon McCullough added 11.
 
The Mighty Macs will now shift to Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) play when they return to the court after the new year.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
-The Macs raced out to a 13-4 lead in the opening four minutes behind field goals by Piekarski, Ambrose, junior Morgan Bailey, and five points by McCullough, but Wesley responded with a 10-0 run to take a 14-13 edge
-Wesley continued to hold that lead, eventually running it up to 11 points at 38-27 after an 8-0 run right before halftime to put the Macs in a 38-30 hole at the break
-Wesley continued to lead by seven at 46-39 with 16:18 remaining when the Macs touched off a 9-2 spurt to tie the game at 48-48.  McCullough hit a three, before an Ambrose bucket, and sophomore Josh Singleton scored four straight to tie it up
-The game would be tied six more times throughout the half in a tight game
-Ambrose hit a pair of free throws with 6:37 to go to put the Macs up 61-60, and a layup by freshman Asa Kitchen kept the Macs in front 63-62 with 5:38 remaining, but that would be their final lead of the game
-After Wesley took the lead, but Macs would get within one point twice more, the latest at 68-67 with 3:25 to go, but the Wolverines knocked down their free throws to seal the win       
 
KEY TEAM STATS
-The Macs were 26-of-70 (37.1%) from the field while Wesley was 26-of-54 (48.1%)
-IU shot 29 threes and made just seven (24.1%) while Wesley was an efficient 4-of-11 (36.4%)
-Wesley did a lot of lifting at the line at 26-of -32 (81.3%) while the Macs were 16-for-25 (64%)
-IU forced 21 turnovers while turning it over 14 times
-Wesley held a 48-36 advantage in rebounds
 
KEY PLAYER STATS
-IU Point Leaders: Piekarski 20, Chapman 14, Ambrose 13, McCullough 11
-IU Rebound Leaders: Piekarski 9, Ambrose 6, Singleton 4
-IU Assist Leaders: Chapman 5, Ambrose 4
 
UP NEXT
The Macs travel to Neumann on January 3^rd for an 8 p.m. tip-off