RADNOR, Pa. – The fourth-seed Immaculata University men’s basketball team saw its season come to a close on Wednesday night as top-seeded Cabrini College handed the Mighty Macs an 89-68 loss in the semifinals of the Colonial States Athletic Conference Tournament at Nerney Field House.
Immaculata ends the year 15-12 overall while 21st-ranked Cabrini (24-2) advances to the CSAC championship game on Friday night at 7 p.m. Cabrini will meet No. 3 seed Neumann in the final on Friday after the Knights defeated Keystone College, 69-65, in the other semifinal game on Wednesday.
The Mighty Macs were led by Robert Siter’s 17 points, while Nelson Torres finished with 15 points and a team-best six rebounds. Eric Barefield was the other Immaculata player in double figures with 13 points and four assists.
The game began with each team scoring four straight points and the momentum continued to shift back-and-forth during the opening five minutes.
Immaculata held its last lead of the first half (11-8) with 13:47 left when Cabrini went on a 16-4 run midway through the stanza to quickly turn the game into a nine-point advantage, 24-15, for the Cavaliers with 7:01 remaining.
The Mighty Macs cut the margin to five points twice, the last with four minutes to play fbefore the break as Siter converted on the three-point play to put Immaculata down 29-24. Siter’s layup would be the last bucket from the field for Immaculata the rest of the half as the Mighty Macs were limited to 3 of 6 from the foul line during the final 2:14.
Cabrini ended the half with six unanswered baskets, and the Cavaliers took a 41-27 lead into the break. The 14-point spread was the largest of the opening stanza for the Cavaliers, who shot 41.5 percent (17-41) from the field.
The Cavaliers had built a 20-point lead by the 17:12 mark of the second half, and Cabrini would maintain a 20-plus advantage the rest of the way.
Cabrini’s Cory Lemons had game-high honors with 20 points, while Kevin Misevicius registered 16 points and Brandon Carter added 14. Dan Robinson came off the bench for the Cavaliers and recorded the game’s only double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds.