Box Score

IMMACULATA, Pa.- The Mighty Macs (4-3) put together their second straight strong performance at Alumnae Hall on Saturday afternoon as they defeated Eastern (3-4), 76-65, in a wire-to-wire victory.
 
The Macs turned the ball over a season-low nine times.
 
Junior Mike Piekarski scored 20 points with six rebounds and sophomore Jordan Ambrose had his first career double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds to go with a career-best six assists.  Senior Will Chapman scored 11 points, and freshman Asa Kitchen came off the bench to chip in eight points.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
-The Mighty Macs started the game well with a 9-2 run with Chapman scoring seven of his 11 and Ambrose with a three just four minutes into the game
-The Mighty Mac defense was great early on, as they held Eastern to just nine points through the first eight and a half minutes and ran their lead up to nine points at 22-13 on a fast-break bucket by Chapman midway through the half
-Eastern continued to battle as they got the IU lead down to four points a handful of times until a three-pointer made it 28-27 Macs with five minutes left before the half
-Those were the final points Eastern would score in the half with the Macs scoring the final five on free throws by Kitchen and Piekarski, and a layup by freshman Brandon McCullough to give them a 33-27 lead at the half
-The Macs scored the first seven to start the second half on five straight by Piekarski and a layup by McCullough to make it 40-27 just three minutes into the second half, their largest lead of the game
-Eastern quickly countered with 10 straight over the next two and a half minutes to trim the lead back to three points until a three pointer by freshman Chris Lomax gave the Macs some breathing room at 43-37
-Eastern got as close as three points on three further occasions in the second half, as late as 4:37 to go with the Macs holding a 59-56 lead, but a 10-2 run for the Macs put the game away
-Piekarski hit a pair of free throws, and a crucial three-point play by senior Matt Krewson really sparked the run before five consecutive points by Kitchen gave IU a 69-58 lead with 1:52 left in the game
-The Macs finished with an 11-point victory at 76-65
 
KEY TEAM STATS
-The Mighty Macs turned the ball over just nine times and forced 21
-Eastern held a 51-38 advantage on the boards
-The Macs were 42.4% (28-for-66) from the field, Eastern was 27-for-70 (38.6%)
-Each team made six three pointers, Eastern on 24 attempts and the Macs on 22
-IU had a significant advantage at the line as they shot 14-for-20 (70%) and Eastern was just 5-for-9 (55.6%)
 
KEY PLAYER STATS
-IU Point Leaders: Piekarski 20, Chapman 11, Ambrose 11, Kitchen 8
-IU Rebound Leaders: Ambrose 12, Piekarski 6
-IU Assist Leaders: Ambrose 6, Kitchen 4, Chapman 3, PIekarski 3
-IU  Steal Leaders: Chapman 2, Piekarski 2, McCullough 2
 
UP NEXT
The Macs head to Widener at 2 p.m. next Saturday