YORK, Pa. - The SUNY Poly men's basketball beat Marywood College on Sunday afternoon 72-67. A strong second half by Anthony Rose helped lead the Wildcats comeback, who were down 7 points at halftime. With the win, the Wildcats improve to 6-5 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED: The Pacers had a strong first half, led by Trevor Seitz, Brendan Franko, and Austin Bausman, who all scored 8 points. The Pacers shot an impressive 56% from the floor in the first half, which included only 5 turnovers. LJ Randle knocked down both his three-point attempts in the first half and tied the team lead with 8 points in the half with Anthony Rose. The Wildcats turned the ball over 10 times in the first half, which led to the Pacers getting transition points. The Pacers took a 42-35 lead into halftime.
In the second half, the Wildcats tightened up on defense, holding the Pacers to shoot just 25.8% from the floor. Anthony Rose, Brandon Holmes, LJ Randle, and Cheickne Toure all had strong second-half performances to cut down the Pacers' lead. A Randle layup with 16:00 to play would get the Wildcats within 1 point, cutting the lead to 46-45. With 11:06 to play, the Wildcats took their first lead of the game 52-51 on a Josh Ernst layup. With 1:56 to play, the Pacers evened the score on a Corey Perkin layup to tie the game 67-67. LJ Randle would answer with a huge three-pointer with :35 seconds remaining to give the Wildcats the lead for good. Alec Bartone recorded the assist on the basket. Two Anthony Rose free throws would seal the game and the Wildcats would hold on for the 72-67 victory.
UP NEXT: The Wildcats will be back in action on Friday, December 29th, when they hit the road to take on Eastern Connecticut State. The game is scheduled to tip at 3:00 PM.