IMMACULATA, Pa.- On the heels of an impressive come from behind victory over a talented Haverford team in non-conference action on Monday evening, the Immaculata men's basketball team remained home on Wednesday to open Atlantic East play vs rival Marywood. A strong start to the second half allowed Immaculata to outpace its guests and improve to 1-0 in Atlantic East play on the year by a final of 73-65.

In the first half, Immaculata and Marywood battled throughout as neither team was able to claim a lead larger than one score until the closing seconds of the half when Immaculata claimed its largest lead of the game of four points after a successful three-point play from Asa Kitchen.

Kitchen ended the half as the Mighty Macs leading scorer with eight points thanks in large part to this three-point opportunity while Jack DeGroot led the way for Marywood after 20 minutes of action with nine points of his own.
In the first half, Immaculata was a perfect 4-for-4 from the line while also shooting 40.6 % from the field and 21.4 % from beyond the arc. Points in the paint was also a difference maker for the Macs through the opening 20 minutes of play as the Macs ended the stanza with a 20-12 edge in points in the paint to carry the lead to the halftime break.

Immaculata opened the second half with an impressive 8-2 run to claim a 41-31 lead and prompt Marywood to take its first timeout of the contest with 16:30 to play. Over the course of the next three minutes following the Marywood timeout, Immaculata continued to play well increasing its lead to 50-35 courtesy of a steady work from beyond the arc to claim a commanding 15-point lead with 13:21 to play in regulation.

Following an Immaculata timeout, Marywood found itself on an 8-5 run to cut the deficit back to seven points with just under 10 minutes to play, thus, prompting an Immaculata timeout with 9:56 to play. The two teams proceeded to trade baskets over the course of the next six minutes to make the score 60-53 in favor of the Macs with 3:35 to play.

Marywood continued to battle over the remaining three and a half minutes of action, however, Immaculata was able to hold off its foes to earn the 73-65 victory.

Jordan Ambrose paced the Macs ending the contest with a game-high 18 points while Brandon McCullough chipped in 16 and Asa Kitchen added 12 points of his own. Tyler Tillery narrowly missed a double-double finishing with nine points and nine rebound while also coming away with a game-high four blocks in the victory.

As a team, Immaculata shot 40.0 % from the field and 25.0 % from beyond the arc while also shooting an impressive 93.8 % from the charity stripe in the victory. Immaculata also ended the game with a +3 (40-37) edge in rebounding.

For Marywood, Tom DeFilippo and Donovan Catchings tied for the team-hgih in scoring with 15 points apiece while Jack DeGroot added 12 points of his own in the setback.

Immaculata will be back in action next Wednesday evening at home opposite Wesley in the final game of its three-game home stand to open the New Year beginning at 8 p.m.