Men’s Basketball
Marywood’s men’s basketball team traveled to Immaculata University on Wednesday to face the Mighty Macs in an Atlantic East conference battle. The contest was tight and defensive through the first half, with the Pacers holding a 28-25 lead over Immaculata. Marywood faltered in the second, falling to an eight-point deficit with less than 10 minutes remaining. The Pacers caught up, however, and the teams traded leads before Immaculata drained two free-throws to force overtime. Fifth-year guard Trevor Seitz was monumental in the extra period, hitting two consecutive threes to give the Pacers a lead they would not relinquish. Marywood snuck away with a final score of 85-80.
Top-scorer was a shared achievement with senior guard Brendan Franko, junior forward Shilo Bivins and Seitz all notching 15 points on the night. Marywood’s bench was crucial, out-scoring Immaculata’s bench 33-17. The Pacers also dominated in three-point shooting, knocking down 34.7% of tries whilst the Macs managed to sink just 7.1% from downtown.
The team traveled to Centenary University on Saturday, hoping to ride its hot hand. The Pacers had a strong start, holding a 22-18 lead halfway through the first half, but the Cyclones started spinning uncontrollably. Centenary put up 14 unanswered points to take a commanding lead, and entered halftime up by eight. The second half was largely back-and-forth, with the Cyclones narrowly adding onto their margin minute-by-minute. In the end, the Pacers fell 83-64.
Franko had the top-scorer distinction all to himself this time with 17 points, while fifth-year guard Corey Perkins led the team with five assists and contributed six rebounds. The Pacers move to 10-9 on the season and 2-4 in conference play, falling to fifth place in the AEC standings.
Women’s Basketball
Marywood’s women’s basketball team hosted the Mighty Macs on Wednesday night while the men were away. Unfortunately, the Pacers could not find the same success at home. Marywood came out of the gates swinging and took a 13-12 lead. Immaculata fought back and as the buzzer sounded, was leading 21-15. Senior forward Stephanie Klemick had other ideas, however, and sank a downtown buzzer-beater to knock the lead down to three. Immaculata began to run away in the second, entering the break up 42-29. Marywood ultimately could not recapture its early momentum, and the Mighty Macs left Scranton with a 79-55 victory.
Individually, junior guards Mia Blume and Megan Cavoli had nights to be proud of. Blume, who finished with 12 points, popped off in the second quarter, swishing a trio of three-pointers and accounting for nine of the Pacers’ 11 points in the quarter. Cavoli had a well-rounded performance, ending with 11 points, a team-leading five assists and four rebounds.
The women’s team also traveled to Centenary on Saturday, the squad needing a win to stay in front of the Cyclones in the AEC standings. Both teams were neck and neck through the first quarter with Centenary holding a 15-13 lead over Marywood. The second quarter, however, was a vastly different story. The Cyclones put up 27 points while the Pacers only scored eight, giving the green and gold a steep hill to climb after halftime. Marywood did not start that climb in the third quarter, once again allowing 25 points and only scoring 10, giving Centenary a 67-31 lead. The Pacers managed a quality fourth quarter, out-scoring the Cyclones 22-16, but it was too little, too late. Centenary’s women’s team put up the same amount of points as the men did, the final score being 83-53.
Senior guard Rachel McDonald led the Pacers in scoring with nine while freshman guard Kennedy Bittenbender had four assists. Marywood falls to 10-10 on the season and 1-4 in conference play, leaving the Pacers in fifth place in the AEC standings.
Swimming & Diving
Marywood’s men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams finished out their regular seasons with Senior Day on Saturday against Susquehanna University. Both teams unfortunately tasted defeat, the men losing 149-48 and the women 173-79.
Seniors Samantha Peck, Aubrey Mangan, Nathan Grosnevor and Zach Grosnevor were honored at the meet. Peck showed out, winning the 100 and 200 butterfly. Freshman Alex Corcoran also took victory in the men’s 50 freestyle.
Both teams will take a well-deserved break until the Atlantic East Conference Championships take place at St. Mary’s College of Maryland from Feb. 13-16.
All stats taken from MarywoodPacers.com as of Jan. 26.
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