IMMACULATA, Pa.- In need of a victory to secure a spot in the Atlantic East Tournament, the Immaculata men's basketball team returned home to face Atlantic East rival Neumann in a tightly contested battle. Immaculata battled back in the second half of play to earn the victory by a final of 90-65.

This victory also gives Immaculata its first season sweep of the Knights since the 2007-08 season.

"The tough non-league schedule we played to open the season has this team battle-tested, which has paid major dividends for us in Atlantic East play being able to hang tough in these great Conference battles" opened Head Coach Jayson Hyman. "Registering the sweep of Neumann is a great step for the program as I think anytime you can set a program record it shows tremendous growth for the program. Neumann is a great defensive team so playing against them is always a battle, which certainly makes you appreciate a victory like this" concluded Hyman.

Steven Dao had a great evening ending the contest with a team-best 19 points while Brandon McCullough and Jordan Ambrose each scored 17 points and 16 points, respectively. Ambrose and McCullough and Ambrose both also eclipsed the previous single-season three-pointer record of 54, which was previously held by Matt Simon. Ambrose and McCullough are currently tied for three-pointers on the year with 57 makes each to this point in the season.

Asa Kitchen and Jake Strycharz both ended the game in double figures as well with 13 points and 11 points, respectively. Despite registering just three points, Tyler Tillery was exceptional this evening as he collected 17 rebounds to set the single-game record, which was previously 16 and was held by four players including current head coach Jayson Hyman.

In the first half of play, Neumann opened the contest on a 16-5 run, which spanned the first six minutes of play. From this point, Immaculata began to battle back evening the score at 25-25 with 1:42 to play in the opening half of basketball. Over the final 1:42, the teams managed just two points between them as Neumann held a slim 27-25 lead heading to the halftime break.

Asa Kitchen had a strong first half ending the opening 20 minutes of basketball with a game-high 11 points while Dennis Robinson led Neumann in scoring with 10 points of his own in the first half.

Coming out of the halftime break, Immaculata outscored its guests 8-7, however, the Mighty Macs still trailed 34-33 with 15:12 to play in regulation.

With just over 14 minutes to play, Immaculata claimed what was its largest lead of the evening with the score at 38-34, when Jake Strycharz completed a three-point play at the line for three of his seven points through the opening six minutes to give the Macs the four-point cushion. Immaculata continued its strong start to the second half extending its lead to 46-37 with 12:15 to play in regulation following another successful three-point play this time off a fast break layup from Steven Dao.

Over the next five minutes of action, Immaculata continued to extend its lead running the score up to 64-47 with 7:06 to play to claim a commanding lead midway through the second half of basketball.

Immaculata continued to extend its lead in the closing moments of regulation as Immaculata went on to win by a final score of 90-65.

From the field, Immaculata shot 46.1 % while also shooting 46.4 % from beyond the arc. The Macs also shot 50.0 % from the charity stripe in the victory. Thanks to Tillery's 17 rebounds, Immaculata also ended the contest with a slim +1 edge in rebounding with the advantage coming on the defensive glass.

Immaculata will be back in action on Saturday afternoon at home against Marymount in the teams regular-season home finale beginning at 3 p.m. Fans are encouraged to arrive early as the Macs will honor their senior class prior to the beginning of the contest on Saturday afternoon.