Scranton, PA- Starting the game with an alley-oop the Pacers played the entire game on an emotional high. With former assistant coach Paul Johnson, who passed away suddenly just two days ago, on the hearts of the Marywood team they were able to focus on the game and play in honor of their coach. The under manned Defenders could not keep up falling 97-65.
The Pacers jumped out to an 18-1 lead and would not turn back. Using the fast break and the three point shot, Marywood would continue to extend the lead as they went into the break with their largest lead of the first half at 58-29. Sidney Tharpe would lead the Pacers with 5 first half threes and a total of 23 first half points.
Marywood would continue to shoot well in the second half as they shot 52 percent from the field for the game while Baptist Bible struggled at 39 percent. On a positive note, the Defenders outrebounded the Pacers 46-33.
Senior Travis Wash (Newport News, VA) would lead the Defenders with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Matt McCarty (Glenville, Ny) chipped in 13 points and Seth Bernard (Hilliard, OH) added 10 and 8 rebounds. Starting in the point guard position, freshman Kyle Pannebaker (Lebanon, PA) put up 10 points and 4 assists. Nathan Greve (Acranum, OH) grabbed 9 boards and dished out 5 assists on the night.
Sidney Tharpe led all scorers with 25 points. Three other Pacers scored in double figures. Jacques Robinson scored 21 and D.J. Strayhorn and Tyler Reinhard each added 10. Lenny Martin snatched 10 rebounds. Strayhorn also handed out 7 assists. Reinhard and James Lavan also passed out 5 assists each.
The Defenders (2-10, 0-6) will play host to CSAC opponent and local rival in Keystone College this Saturday at 3:00 pm.
