ARLINGTON, Va.- The No. 6 Immaculata men's basketball team (10-16) travelled to No. 3 Marymount (15-11) for the quarterfinals of the first ever Atlantic East Conference Tournament, and the Mighty Macs made the game tight early in the second half, but the Saints did not allow them to take the lead as the IU season came to a close with a 64-51 loss.
 
Senior Mike Piekarski finished his fantastic collegiate career with 20 points on 7-for-15 shooting from the field.  Junior Jordan Ambrose also reached double figures with 12 and nine boards.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
-The Macs trailed 7-5 out of the gates, but they put together an 8-0 run to take their largest lead of the game.  Piekarski scored four straight, followed by a triple from Ambrose and a bucket by senior Morgan Bailey to put the Macs up 13-7 at the 13 minute mark of the first half as the IU defense was stout early
-IU equaled their largest lead of six at 17-11 with 7:40 to go after a bucket by Ambrose as the Mighty Mac defense kept the Saints in check with just 11 points through the opening 12:20
-The Saints then took control of the half as they outscored IU, 22-5 down the stretch to take a 33-22 advantage at the break
-The Macs couldn't have drawn up a better start defensively as they held Marymount scoreless for the first 6:34 of the period and scored seven unanswered points to cut the deficit to four.  Sophomore Brandon McCullough scored a bucket and Piekarski followed with a traditional three-point play and a jumper to make it 33-29
-Unfortunately for the Macs, the Marymount offense caught fire quickly as they went on a 15-2 run over the next three-plus minutes to take a commanding 48-31 lead at the midway mark of the half
-The Macs never got closer than 10 points the rest of the way as they dropped their season finale
 
TEAM COMPARISON
-The Macs were 20-for-58 (34.5%) from the field and just 3-for-18 (16.7%) from three point range.  They were 8-of-11 from the line (72.7%)
-The Saints were 24-for-53 (45.3%) from the field, but they also struggled from deep at 5-for-17 (29.4%) and were just 64% from the free throw line (11-for-17)
-The Saints held a 39-31 advantage on the glass and each team coughed it up 16 times
 
IU LEADERS
-Points: Piekarski 20, Ambrose 12, McCullough 9
-Rebounds: Ambrose 9, Bailey 5, McCullough 4
-Assists: McCullough 2, Bailey 2
-Blocks: McArthur 2
-Steals: Ambrose 4