IMMACULATA, Pa.- The Immaculata men's basketball team (2-4) nearly completed an improbably comeback on Saturday afternoon at Alumnae Hall as they trailed by as many as 26 points in the first half, but clawed all the way back to take a late lead against Southern Virginia, however the Knights (1-2) re-took the lead and held on for an 80-77 victory as the Macs' last ditch effort came up just short.
 
The Mighty Macs were led by two great efforts from junior Kristopher Bobo (8 rebounds) and sophomore Asa Kitchen (4 assists) as they each poured in 18 points.
 
Senior Mike Piekarski was honored before the game for becoming the fifth Mighty Mac ever to reach 1,000 points, and he added 11 points this afternoon with three steals.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
-The Mighty Macs were completely overtaken in the first half by a three point shooting barrage by the Knights, as they were 11-for-14 in the first half and raced out to a 40-14 lead just over 11 minutes into the game
-They led 42-16 with 7:33 to go, and the Mighty Macs righted the ship by outscoring Southern Virginia, 13-4, over that closing stretch to make it 46-29 at the break.  Junior Jeffrey Powell-Young provided a good spark with six points off the bench during the stretch
-The Mighty Macs continued to claw their way in the second half, getting as close as 10 points for the opening nine minutes, but were unable to get below the 10 point mark until 4:47 to go in the game when Kitchen went on a run to give IU the lead.  He knocked down a three to make it an eight point game, converted a jumper to cut it to six, a pair of free throws made it a four point game, then back-to-back three points put the Mighty Macs ahead, 72-70, with 1:15 remaining, capping off a 15-0 run
-The Knights didn't lay down as they quickly re-took the lead on a three pointer and added to it with an and-one bucket after a missed three pointer by McCullough made it 76-72 with 27 seconds to go
-The teams traded two free throws each before Piekarski hit a triple with 10 seconds left to make it 78-77 Knights, and after two Southern Virginia free throws, the Macs had one more chance with four seconds, but McCullough's last ditch three pointer was short and the Macs fell
 
TEAM COMPARISON
-Southern Virginia was 27-for-51 (52.9%) from the field and a scalding 15-for-24 (62.5%) from three while the Macs were 28-of-61 (45.9%) from the field and a strong 10-for-21 (47.6%) from deep, led by a 4-for-4 effort by Kitchen
-Both teams were excellent from the line as the Knights were 11-for-13 (84.6%) and the Macs were 11-for-12 (91.7%)
-The Macs forced 18 turnovers and gave it up just 12 times while each team grabbed 29 boards
 
INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
-Points: Bobo 18, Kitchen 18, Piekarski 11, McCullough 9, Ambrose 9
-Assists: Kitchen 4, McCullough 3
-Rebounds: Bobo 8, Ambrose 6, Piekarski 3, Powell-Young 3
-Steals: Piekarski 3, Bobo 2, Kitchen 1
 
UP NEXT
The Mighty Macs will enjoy some much needed rest before hosting Penn State-Harrisburg on Monday, November 26^th.