Box Score

ASTON, Pa. – Eric Pittman Jr. tied his season-high with 27 points but it was not enough to lead the visiting Immaculata University men's basketball team to the win Wednesday night at Neumann as the host Knights held on for the 93-82 win in Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) action.
 
Pittman Jr. led the way offensively for the Mighty Macs with 27 points on 9-for-16 from the field, including three three-point field goals, and 6 of 7 from the free throw line, while also having two assists and two steals. Jordan Ambrose chipped in 19 points, including three three-pointers and 6-for-6 at the charity stripe, to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Roy Ferrell Jr. added 14 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals. Mike Piekarski was the fourth Mighty Mac in double figures with 10 points, four rebounds and three blocked shots. Matt Simon also added eight points and two steals.
 
Immaculata (9-11, 7-6 CSAC) and Neumann (19-1, 13-0 CSAC) each had momentum swings during a high scoring first half. After Ferrell Jr. scored the opening basket of the game for Immaculata, Neumann responded with seven points for the early lead (7-2) just two minutes into the game. Ferrell Jr. spurred an 8-3 run by the Mighty Macs with six points which tied the contest at 10-10 at the 16:23 mark.
 
The Knights connected on back-to-back three point field goals to again give Neumann the lead, 16-11, with 13:14 to play in the first half. That is when Immaculata got its biggest momentum changer of the half. The Mighty Macs scored nine-straight points to begin a larger 14-2 spurt in a span of 2:26 that saw a five-point deficit turn into a seven-point advantage, 25-18, with 10:16 remaining in the half. Pittman Jr. had six points, while Ambrose contributed five points in the run.
 
Neumann chipped away at Immaculata's lead and eventually tied the contest at 28-all with 7:12 left on the clock. However, Simon had a jumper and Pittman Jr. hit a three-pointer to stake the Mighty Macs back in front, 33-28 with just over six minutes left.
 
The Knights came back with a 9-0 run that wiped out the Mighty Macs' lead and gave the hosts a 37-33 advantage with 3:45 remaining before halftime. Simon hit a pair of free throws to cut Immaculata's deficit to two (37-35), but a 9-3 run by Neumann pushed the lead to eight (46-38) just inside two minutes to go. Cordell Lord came up with a three and Piekarski had a layup during the closing stretch of the half to keep Immaculata within seven of Neumann at the half, 50-43.
 
Immaculata started the second half on an 8-3 run with Ferrell Jr. Piekarski, Pittman Jr. and Ambrose all scoring for the Mighty Macs as they came within two (53-51) of the Knights at the 18:05 mark. Following a layup by Neumann, Ambrose sunk a three-ball that made it a one-point game (55-54) with 17:14 to go. Immaculata stayed within one point of Neumann until the 14:11 mark with the Knights' Tony Parker hit a three. Ambrose came back with a jumper to close within two (62-60), but Neumann started to pull away with a 10-5 run that took the game to the 8:52 mark (72-65).
 
Neumann began to take control of the contest building a double-digit lead which it would maintain the rest of the way. The Knights got up by as many as 16 (91-75) with 1:53 to go in the game, and Immaculata was able to score six-consecutive points to trim Neumann's lead to 10 (91-81) with 53 seconds left.
 
Immaculata hosts Clarks Summit on Saturday at 1 p.m. inside Alumnae Hall.