Strong shooting pushes Pace past Men's Basketball

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - The American International College men's basketball team lost a 75-55 Northeast-10 Conference contest to Pace University on Saturday, January 13.

AIC is now 5-10 overall and 3-6 in the NE10.

Justice Ellison knocked in the game's first field goal, but the Setters countered with a three. Although Ellison later hit a three that tied the game 5-5, Pace began to build its lead, using a series of field goals to build to a 21-13 advantage and force an AIC timeout at 10:14.

The run continued out of the timeout, as AIC trailed 29-13 before Jalen Jordan broke the run with a jumper set up by Lovre Zaja. AIC was able to wake up its offense from there, however, cutting the gap to just eight with an Ellison triple that made it 33-25. Pace scored the final five of the half for the margin at the break.

The Yellow Jackets battled to keep it close early on in the second, but the Setters hit their open looks, keeping AIC at bay. By the midpoint of the half, the advantage was 16, as Pace led 58-42. The visiting team closed out strong from there, and held on to win 75-55.

Jordan led AIC with 18 points on 7-of-9 shooting and seven rebounds; Zaja dished seven assists while collecting eight points, and Ellison posted 11 points. 

The Yellow Jackets next host Saint Michael's College on Tuesday, January 16 at 7:30 p.m.