Gwynedd-Mercy Cruises Past Pacers in CSAC Action
John Foreman led Marywood with a team-high 12 points and 9 rebounds in the Pacers' loss to Gwynedd-Mercy Thursday night

Gwynedd-Mercy Cruises Past Pacers in CSAC Action

- 12/4/2008 9:36:21 PM

BOX SCORE

Gwynedd Valley, PA - Gwynedd-Mercy College raced out to an early 14-2 lead and never looked back as the host Griffins topped visiting Marywood University 94-56 in Colonial States Athletic Conference men's basketball action Wednesday evening in Gwynedd Valley.  The win puts the CSAC pre-season favorite Griffins at 3-1 (1-0 CSAC) on the young season while the Pacers slipped to 5-3 (1-1 CSAC).

A three-pointer by GMC's Matt Johnson to open the game just over a minute in gave the hosts a quick lead, and after a layup by Marywood's Prince Blacknall (Stroudsburg, PA) made it 3-2 the hosts rattled off a 11-0 run over the next five minutes to extend their lead to 14-2.  Marywood fought their way back into the game and found themselves down just four (22-18) with 8:20 left in the opening half after a Sidney Tharpe (Victorville, CA) three, but less than three minutes later the Griffins once again held a comfortable double-digit lead (31-20) after a layup by Lemeire Talley. 

A Marywood time-out at the five-minute mark did not slow the hosts down, as GMC went up by as many as 13 over the final minutes of the opening stanza before a pair of free throws by Marywood's John Foreman (Sleepy Hollow, NY) and a layup by Chadli Charlot (Lake Worth, FL) brought the Pacers back to within 10 at the buzzer (40-30).

Marywood was limited to 9 of 32 shooting in the opening half including just 2 of 11 (18.2%) from three-point land.  The Griffins, meanwhile, connected on 16 of 44 shots and just 3 of 10 from behind the arc.  The second half would prove much different, however, as the hosts shot 43% (21 of 49) from the floor and hit five threes while limiting the Pacers to 6 of 22 shooting (27.3%) from the floor during the same period.

Gwynedd-Mercy would extend their lead to 21 points (60-39) over the opening seven minutes of the second half and build their lead from there.  The Griffins dominated the Pacers in the paint, outscoring the visitors by a 50-16 margin.  The Griffins also controlled the boards, scoring 24 second chance points off of 26 offensive rebounds to Marywood's four second chance points.  In all, the Griffins out-rebounded the Pacers 63-39 on the night and forced 28 Marywood turnovers.

Dave Smith led the Griffins with a double-double on 18 points and 14 rebounds, both game-highs, while Talley added 17 points.  15 of 16 rostered players for the Griffins registered points on the night.  Marywood was led by Foreman (12 points) and Tharpe (11 points).  Foreman had nine boards on the night for the Pacers.

Marywood returns to action Monday when the Pacers travel to Immaculata University for an 8:00 pm CSAC battle. 
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