IMMACULATA, Pa.- The Mighty Mac men's basketball team welcomed in top-seeded Cabrini (21-3, 15-2 CSAC) on Senior Night at Alumnae Hall on Wednesday for some Colonial States Athletic Conference (CSAC) action, and the Macs (13-11) were undone by an early second half Cabrini run en route to an 87-75 defeat.  With the loss, the Mighty Macs are now tied with Keystone and Marywood at 9-8 in the CSAC with just two playoff spots remaining.  With a win on Saturday at Marywood, the Macs will advance to the playoffs, but with a loss and due to tiebreaker scenarios, the Mighty Macs would be eliminated from CSAC playoff contention.
 
Prior to the game, the Macs honored Will Chapman and Matt Krewson who were potentially playing in their final game at Alumnae Hall tonight.
 
Junior Mike Piekarski was the main source of offense with 23 points, and he added nine rebounds, two blocks, and four steals.  Sophomore Jordan Ambrose had 11 points and three steals, and freshman Asa Kitchen scored 11 points off the bench.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
-Cabrini scored the first nine points of the game, but the Mighty Macs punched back with 20 of the next 28 to take their first lead of the game
-Piekarski scored the first two buckets, and after a Krewson layup, Piekarski knocked down another jumper as the Macs had scored eight straight
-Cabrini responded with six straight, but the Macs came storming back and freshman Joe McHugh hit back-to-back baskets to put the Macs ahead 20-17 with 8:50 remaining in the half
-The Cavaliers then turned on the offense with a 19-8 run to take an eight point lead and they carried that into halftime at 42-34
-Cabrini then opened the half with a big run and took a 58-40 lead with a 16-6 spurt over the opening five minutes
-IU did not go away as they countered with a 16-4 run over the next five minutes on the strength of Piekarski, Ambrose, and McHugh to cut it to 62-56 midway through the half
-However, the Mighty Macs ran out of gas as Cabrini came back with a 16-2 run that gave them a 78-58 lead with 5:38 to go
-IU made one final run with a 15-5 spurt, punctuated by a layup from freshman Brandon McCullough, but the Macs ran out of time in the loss
 
KEY TEAM STATS
-The Macs were 32-of-72 (44.4%) from the field, but struggled from three-point range at 4-of-22 (18.2%)
-Cabrini was 37-for-78 (47.4%) from the field and a slightly more efficient 6-of-20 (30%)
-Both teams made seven free throws, for the Macs it was on nine attempts while Cabrini struggled in 15 attempts
-Both teams turned it over 15 times, but the Macs were outrebounded 50-37
 
KEY PLAYER STATS
-IU Point Leaders: Piekarski 23, Kitchen 11, Ambrose 11
-IU Rebound Leaders: Piekarski 9, Ambrose 6
-IU Assist Leaders: Chapman 7, Kitchen 4, McCullough 3, Krewson 3
 
UP NEXT
The Mighty Macs will play a must-win game to advance to the CSAC playoffs at Marywood at 2 p.m.