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Gwynedd-Mercy 55, Immaculata 53
BOX SCORE
GWYNEDD VALLEY, PA. – Sophomore
Justin Knight (Mays Landing, N.J./Oakcrest) scored five points in the last 13 seconds, including a layup and foul with six ticks left, to help give Gwynedd-Mercy an exciting 55-53 win over visiting Immaculata at the Griffin Complex Wednesday evening.
Down three with under a minute, and with the squad on defense, the Griffins (10-9, 9-3 CSAC) were able to force a shot-clock violation to get the ball back with 43 seconds. Two chances from longrange to try and tie it up were no good, and on a third attempt, Knight would pull down a rebound and put one back to cut the lead to two.
After each team called timeout, Knight again made an outstanding play, stealing the inbounds pass and driving to the basket. His layup attempt around a pair of defenders in the paint was able to fall and draw a foul. The whistle on the call after the bucket was drowned out by the roar of the crowd, which had come to its feet. He would hit the free throw and a half court attempt from the Mighty Macs was no good.
Both teams shot over 40% in the first half, but the Griffins never trailed, while IU kept it close. GM would lead 27-25 at intermission. In the second, Immaculata scored the first six points to take their first lead of the game. Knight and Gwynedd answered with a 13-2 run. His bucket inside gave GM a 40-33 edge with 13 minutes in the contest.
IU would nip at the GM lead, and eventually overtake it at the 7:50 mark on a field goal from Nelson Torres.
Brandon Smith, who had game highs of 21 points and 11 rebounds, drew a foul on a bucket underneath with 1:42 to give the Mighty Macs (10-9, 9-3 CSAC) a 53-50 advantage.
Knight would finish with nine points and a team-high eight caroms.
Frank Champion (Northfield, N.J./Mainland) led GM with 14 points.
Brendan Stanton (Harleysville, Pa./Lansdale Catholic) hit three of the team's five treys, and totaled 12 points. The Griffins forced 17 IUI turnovers, which led to 22 points.
Gwynedd-Mercy plays at Cairn on Saturday in a CSAC contest in a 2 p.m. start.
