ASTON, PA. -- Gwynedd Mercy's five-game win streak came to an end with a 92-77 defeat at No. 21 Neumann on Saturday in a CSAC matchup.
Four players finished in double figures for GM (15-4, 9-3 CSAC) led by
Cedric Elleby with 16.
Arron Goodman netted 14 while
Rip Engel,
Courtney Cubbage and
Matt Sommers each kicked in 13. Cubbage grabbed 11 rebounds while Elleby blocked five shots.
DeShawn Loman scored 27 points with teammate Carl Wallace finished with 20 for the Knights (18-1, 12-0 CSAC). Loman added 12 boards and nine assists while DeAndre Williams hit five three-pointer and ended with 19 points.
The first half featured runs by both teams, five tied scores and six lead changes. Neumann would build a six-point lead (23-17), but Cubbage scored five-points in a row to rally within one. Later an 11-4 Griffin run would put GMercyU ahead 39-31 with 3:54 in the half. Neumann went on a run of their own capped off with a dunk by Darian Barnes to pull the Knights to within one, 40-39, with just 1:39 on the clock. Elleby scored the final four points of the half to take a 44-39 lead at the break.
After the Knights tied the game at 46 just over a minute into the second half, Gwynedd answered by scoring the next seven points to reclaim the lead. A three-pointer from Sommers would inch the advantage to 58-50 with just over 15 minutes to play. Engel made it 67-60 with his three-ball four minutes later.
Neumann went on a 10-2 run capped off with a three-point play from Loman to take a 70-69 edge with 8:04 to go. The Knights would pull away for good, this time using an 18-1 spurt over the next six minutes to go up, 86-70. Engel and the Griffins gave it a final push, hitting a three followed by a bucket to pull within 11, but Neumann would go 6-for-6 from the free-throw line in crunch time.
The Griffins had their streak of outrebounding their opponent come to an end as Neumann totaled a 48-29 edge on the glass to snap the 10-game stretch. The team would shoot 53% for the game (32-of-60) but went to the free-throw line a season-low 12 times.
Gwynedd Mercy will take on Cairn on Wednesday in a CSAC Doubleheader with the women. The men start it up at 8 p.m.
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