BOX SCORE
Scranton, PA – Visiting Centenary College took a five-point lead into halftime and never looked back on their way to a 71-62 over Marywood Thursday night in a Pennsylvania Athletic Conference match-up at the Insalaco Arena. With the win, the Cyclones upped their record to 4-16 overall and 2-10 in the PAC, while the Pacers fall to 6-14 overall and 0-12 in the conference.
The first half was a see-saw affair that saw the teams swap the lead six times, with Marywood building a 16-11 lead with 13:29 to play in the period on Joshua Pena's (New York City, NY) lay-up. The Cyclones would battle back and take a 22-20 lead on Joshua Davidson's three-pointer with 6:43 remaining on the clock, a lead the visitors would extend to 10 over the next four minutes before Marywood drew to within five of as the teams headed into their locker rooms.
Centenary's William Atkinson led all first-half scorers with 12 points while Davidson added 11 points and six rebounds in the opening stanza for the Cyclones, who were a perfect eight for eight from the free throw line.
Matthew Medici (Princeton Junction, NJ) and Pena each scored eight points in the opening half for Marywood, while Medici pulled down six boards to lead the Pacers, who turned the ball over just five times in the first half compared to 11 giveaways by the Cyclones.
Marywood was able to trim Centenary's lead to three points early in the second half on a three-pointer from Nick Stoud (Gibson, PA), but a 10-2 run by the Cyclones over the next five minutes would give the visitors 52-39 lead with 10:52 to play in the game. Centenary would then use an 11-3 run to build a 16-point lead at 65-49 with just under three minutes to play to put the game out of reach as the Pacers struggled offensively in the second half, shooting just 25 percent from the floor.
Centenary was led by Atkinson's game-high 21-point performance, while Robert Urie and Davidson each added 14 points. Andrew Baker was a huge presence in the paint for the Cyclones, recording a double-double with 13 points and a game-high 17 rebounds while also blocking three shots. The visitors shot 41 percent from the floor including 44 percent from beyond the arc and hit 19 of 23 free-throw attempts.
Medici recorded his ninth double-double of the season by netting 15 points and grabbing 11 rebounds while battling with Baker for much of the evening. L.B. Feduchak (Hop Bottom, PA) and Pena each finished the evening with eight points for the Pacers, who shot just 30 percent from the floor and 33 percent from behind the arc. Marywood scored only six points from the free throw line on ten trips to the charity stripe.
The Pacers will attempt to earn their elusive first conference victory this Saturday when they travel to St. Davids, PA to take on Eastern University in a contest scheduled to tip-off at 5:30 p.m.
