Setters’ Comeback Bid Falls Short in a Loss to Stonehill
With his sprinter’s speed, Pace University guard Denzel Primus-Devonish dribbled the ball up the floor rapidly in the final seconds late Saturday afternoon. He quickly crossed midcourt and turned into a blur as he reached the top of the key. But just an instant before he was about to rise in the lane to send up the potential game-tying shot, misfortune once again struck the Setters.
in Saturday’s home game vs. Stonehill. Photo by Andy Jacobs
Primus-Devonish’s feet went out from under him and he went crashing to the court with a thud, taking the Setters’ last hopes down with him. Visiting Stonehill College added a free throw with a second remaining and wound up escaping with a 61-58 victory, sending the Setters to their fifth loss in the last seven games in front of a big and enthusiastic Alumni Day crowd at the Goldstein Fitness Center.
“It’s just been one of those years where things haven’t gone our way,” said Setters coach Jim Harter afterwards. “And that was another example of it. Denzel’s as good as anyone in the league in the open floor. We were hoping he’d get in there for a shot, maybe a rebound opportunity or whatever and he slipped.”
The Setters, now 9-10 overall and 6-9 in the Northeast-10 Conference, had battled their way back from a seven-point deficit in the game’s final 90 seconds. Primus-Devonish, who led Pace with 20 points, connected on a 3-pointer from the left corner with 11 seconds to go that brought the Setters to within a point.
Stonehill’s Sam Markle made a free throw with 8.7 seconds left, but he missed his second attempt and the rebound was snatched by the Setters’ Jonathan Merceus, who tossed the ball to Primus-Devonish. Regrettably for the Setters, his fast and furious foray up the floor ended in disaster when he lost his footing with just two seconds left on the clock.
“It’s probably happened a few times, but not very many, maybe two or three times his whole career I’ve seen him slip like that,” said Harter. “And, unfortunately, he slipped at the wrong time there with us needing a basket.”
Earlier in the afternoon, it had been Primus-Devonish who supplied much of the Setters’ offense during a first half in which they found themselves trailing by a dozen points with just under six minutes remaining before halftime. He had 13 of his points in the first 20 minutes, including three early baskets that enabled Pace to jump out to an 8-2 advantage.
But the Skyhawks proceeded to score the next 14 points, fueled by four 3-pointers. During the Stonehill run, Merceus was whistled for his second foul and was forced to the bench. Harter sent him back in just before Stonehill’s Pierce Cumpstone made a trey that increased the Skyhawk lead to 24-12.
Merceus, who finished with 15 points, managed to avoid picking up another foul before halftime and soon provided four baskets in just over three minutes that helped narrow the Setters’ deficit to seven points. Pace freshman forward Jaylen Mann knocked down a 3-pointer from the left corner with 54 seconds left in the half and then the Setters closed to within 29-26 at the break when Primus-Devonish stood at the line all by himself and added three free throws with no time left on the clock.
Pace made just 37 percent of its shots in the first half and the usually reliable Keon Williams contributed just two points in his 19 minutes on the court. He did erupt for 13 points in the second half, but the Setters shot even worse than they did before intermission, misfiring on 19 of their 27 shots from the field.
“It’s been like that all year,” said Harter about the Setters’ shooting woes. “We’ve struggled to make 3s. We’re 9-10 and we’d probably have three or four (more) wins if we were shooting the ball better this year. We didn’t shoot well again tonight. Three out of 13’s not gonna get it done in this league.”
Williams scored Pace’s first nine points of the second half, twice getting the Setters to within a point. But they never took the lead and Stonehill built its advantage back up to nine points when Carter Smith hit on a 3-pointer with just 4:35 remaining in the game. A dazzling dunk by Merceus a minute later on the rebound of a missed runner by Primus-Devonish was waved off because of a foul by Williams.
Trailing 56-49 after two free throws by Smith with 1:42 left, the Setters began their last-gasp comeback bid 17 seconds later as Ahmad George made a 3-pointer from the left. Two foul shots by Pace junior guard Kai Smith narrowed the deficit to 57-55 with 27.8 seconds remaining. Brian Hamor of Stonehill countered with a pair of free throws six seconds later, setting the stage for the 3-pointer by Primus-Devonish that was soon followed by his last-second misadventure.
“I was proud of our effort,” said Harter, whose team will be back home next Saturday afternoon to face New Haven. “I thought we played hard. Defensively, we played hard. We forced 20 turnovers and I think it was just an offensive issue, not putting the ball in the basket. They (the Skyhawks) stepped up and made the ones they needed to make and for the most part we didn’t. I think that was the difference in the game really.”
Andy is a sports editor at Examiner Media, covering seven high schools in the mid-Westchester region with a notebook and camera. He began there in the fall of 2007 following 15 years as a candid photographer for the largest school picture company in the tri-state area.
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