Marywood basketball teams swept by Marymount
Feb. 12—SCRANTON — Marywood University's men's basketball team has been playing close games all season.
The young Pacers still are trying to learn how to win them.
Marcus Beckett led four players in double figures with 18 points and first-place Marymount University outlasted Marywood, 79-72, in an Atlantic East Conference game Saturday afternoon at Insalaco Arena.
Marymount women also won the first game of the doubleheader over Marywood, 53-36, for a sweep.
Montell Cooper added 16 points for the Marymount men (14-10 overall, 9-2 league). Jack Bifano had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds and Marcus Stubbs chipped in 10 points.
Sophomore and Lakeland graduate Caleb Vigil scored 23 points to lead Marywood (10-14, 3-8). Graduate student and Riverside product Jason Holman had 16 points, six rebounds and three blocks.
Trevor Seitz, Abington Heights graduate Corey Perkins and Riverside graduate Brandon Reed each had four assists as Marywood finished with 20. The Pacers rank No. 1 in NCAA Division III in assists per game (21.0).
This was the 13th game decided by eight points or less this season for Marywood — five of which went to overtime. The Pacers are 5-8 in those games.
"We have two seniors. Everyone else is a freshman or a sophomore or a COVID sophomore," Marywood first-year coach Jon Showers said. "We've been in every game. It's just a matter of the guys truly learning how to win. That's hard with a young team. We're trying to change the culture here. It takes time and patience. We're building it from the ground up."
A 16-5 run to close the first half enabled Marywood to lead at halftime, 38-36. When Marymount missed 10 of its first 11 shots to begin the second half, the Pacers extended the advantage to 46-38 with 14:33 left.
"It all starts on defense," Vigil said. "When they miss shots, we're able to get out in transition, get the ball moving around. When we play fast, we're at our best. We got open 3s and they were falling.
"We just couldn't keep it consistent for the full 20 minutes of the second half."
Following a timeout, Marymount responded with an 11-2 burst to grab a 49-48 lead with 11:03 remaining.
Two Holman free throws with 9:20 to go put the Pacers in front, 54-52. But Beckett scored his team's next seven points, sparking another 11-2 run that gave the Saints a 63-56 lead with 7:02 left.
"They're a talented team, the top team in the league," Showers said. "They have good players and they're going to make good plays. Sometimes, when adversity hits with a young team, doubt creeps in. We're still fighting that. It takes some time for them to trust each other."
Seitz hit a 3-pointer to draw Marywood within 67-64 with 5:36 to play. The Pacers then had three chances to either get closer or tie, but missed and baskets by Bifano and Cooper gave Marymount a 71-64 lead with 2:00 remaining. Six free throws in the final 38.4 seconds sealed the victory for the Saints.
Despite the loss, Marywood still holds the sixth and final spot for the Atlantic East playoffs thanks to Centenary's loss to Cabrini on Saturday.
The Pacers have one game remaining — Wednesday at Immaculata — while Centenary (2-8 league) has two games left. Should the teams finish with identical records, the Cyclones would qualify for the postseason by virtue of their two wins over Marywood.
"It's not about Centenary, it's about us right now," Showers said. "The guys know we can beat any team in the league. We have a talented team. But we're just not quite consistent yet. We're close, we're not quite there. But we're building something special here."
Marymount 79, Marywood 72
Marymount (14-10, 9-2) — Bifano 5-9 3-7 13; Stubbs 2-5 5-6 10; Beckett 7-11 2-2 18; Hockenberry 3-8 0-0 8; Harris 1-6 2-2 4; Boyd 2-4 0-0 5; Cooper 7-8 1-3 16; Etienne 0-1 0-0 0; Cook 2-7 1-3 5. Totals: 29-59 14-23 79.
Marywood (10-14, 3-8) — Holman 7-11 2-2 16; Seitz 3-9 0-0 9; Mendygral 1-5 0-0 3; Strouse 0-1 0-0 0; Franko 3-7 0-0 8; Perkins 0-2 0-0 0; Vigil 9-15 3-3 23; Johnson 4-6 0-0 8; Reed 2-3 0-0 5; Altmire 0-0 0-0 0; Lane 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 29-59 5-5 72
Halftime: Marywood, 38-36. 3-point shooting: MMT 7-15 (Hockenberry 2-4, Beckett 2-3, Cooper 1-1, Stubbs 1-2, Boyd 1-2, Bifano 0-1, Harris 0-1, Cook 0-1); MWD 9-30 (Seitz 3-8, Franko 2-4, Vigil 2-5, Reed 1-2, Mendygral 1-4, Johnson 0-1, Strouse 0-1, Perkins 0-2, Holman 0-3). Rebounds: MMT 29 (Bifano 10); MWD 34 (Holman, Mendygral 6). Assists: MMT 25 (Stubbs 6); MWD 20 (Seitz, Perkins, Reed 4). Steals: MMT 12 (Bifano, Stubbs, Cooper 2); MWD 3 (Seitz, Perkins, Johnson). Blocks: MMT 1 (Cooper); MWD 4 (Holman 3). Team rebounds: MMT 1; MWD 2. Turnovers: MMT 10; MWD 20. Team fouls: MMT 12; MWD 19.
Women
It wasn't the start Marywood hoped to have against first-place and regionally ranked Marymount.
The Pacers had difficulty handling the Saints' pressure defense in the first quarter, committing five turnovers. When it was able to break the press, Marywood could not put the ball in the basket. It missed its first seven shots from the field and 14 of its first 17 to fall behind, 28-9, midway through the second quarter.
"They play great pressure defense. They're No. 1 in the conference for a reason," Marywood coach Jennifer Carleton said of Marymount. "They're super athletic. Creating turnovers turns into their best offense."
A basket by Savannah Purdy with 7:28 left in the third quarter cut Marywood's deficit to 38-21. But Marymount scored the next 13 points to open its largest lead, 51-21, with 1:52 left in the third.
With the Saints' starters and top reserves on the bench, Marywood limited Marymount to just two points the rest of the game.
"We preach to never give up," Carleton said. "We stay positive and upbeat and stay together. We never look at the scoreboard, hang our heads and say it's over. The next possession is the most important."
Chandler Eddleton led Marymount (20-4, 10-1) with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Symantha Shackelford added 10 points.
Old Forge graduate Olivia Ciullo topped Marywood with 12 points and nine rebounds.
At one point this season, the Pacers were 11-2. They since have dropped nine of 10.
A contributing factor was the season-ending injury to sophomore guard Abbey McGee on Dec. 13 — the same day she was named United States Basketball Writers Association Division III National Player of the Week for posting the first triple-double in Marywood history.
"You take a player like that off the floor, everything changes," Carleton said. "The ball went through her. We're a drive-and-kick team. Olivia Ciullo got a ton of open looks when she (McGee) was able to get to the paint. And she's smart, a coach on the floor."
Even with Saturday's loss, Marywood clinched the No. 6 seed for the Atlantic East playoffs with Centenary losing to Cabrini. The Pacers close out the regular season Wednesday at Immaculata, then face the No. 3 seed in the first round Feb. 20.
Marywood 53, Marymount 36
Marymount (20-4, 10-1) — Smith 1-2 2-2 4; Achtyl 1-5 2-2 4; Dzambo 3-7 2-2 9; Shackelford 3-8 3-3 10; Eddleton 8-12 1-4 17; Treadwell 1-5 2-2 4; Damato 0-2 0-0 0; Schools 1-6 0-0 3; Morrison 0-4 0-0 0; Ceroll 0-3 0-0 0; Bulik 1-4 0-0 2; DeFazio 0-2 0-0 0; Knabel 0-1 0-0 0; Tague 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 19-62 12-15 53
Marywood (12-11, 2-9) — Ciullo 3-11 6-10 12; Neiderer 0-3 0-0 0; Rolon 0-6 1-2 1; McDonald 2-8 0-0 5; Purdy 3-10 3-4 9; Klemick 0-2 0-0 0; White 0-1 0-2 0; Kendricks 3-7 0-0 6; Peel 1-4 0-0 3. Totals: 12-52 10-18 36
Marymount 21 15 15 2 — 53
Marywood 7 10 7 12 — 36
3-point shooting: MMT 3-16 (Schools 1-2, Dzambo 1-4, Shackelford 1-4, Treadwell 0-1, Tague 0-1, Morrison 0-2, Bulik 0-2); MWD 2-14 (Peel 1-1, McDonald 1-5, Ciullo 0-1, Neiderer 0-1, Purdy 0-1, White 0-1, Kendricks 0-4). Rebounds: MMT 50 (Eddleton 13); MWD 32 (Ciullo 9). Assists: MMT 12 (Shackelford, Damato, Morrison, Ceroll 2); MWD 4 (Neiderer, Rolon, White, Peel). Steals: MMT 12 (Dzambo, Eddleton 3); MWD 7 (White, Kendricks 2). Blocks: MMT 1 (Smith); MWD 3 (Ciullo, Rolon, Peel). Team rebounds: MMT 3; MWD 2. Turnovers: MMT 18; MWD 16. Team fouls: MMT 23; MWD 12.
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