ROSEMONT, Pa. - Alumnae Hall rocked in anticipation as
Jacob Simonson cut through the right side of the lane, turned face up towards the north basket and floated the right handed shot towards the rim.
This was going to be a defining win the Rosemont men's basketball team. One that could launch them towards a final stretch run full of promise.
Instead, it was some familiar heartache of another "close, but no cigar" win against another one of the Colonial States Athletic Conference powers.
But Simonson's shot trickled off the side of the rim and into the waiting arms of Gwynedd-Mercy's Manny Lopez, preserving the Griffins 72-71 win over the Ravens Wednesday night in a classic battle of CSAC titans in Rosemont.
The Ravens saw their five game winning streak snapped in the cruelest of ways, falling to 12-6 overall and 8-4 CSAC. The Griffins continue to stand at the top of the CSAC standing, improving to 15-2 overall and 10-1 in the CSAC.
The Ravens took a 43-41 lead to the locker room at halftime after building a nine-point lead late in the first half. But the Griffins, lead by Rip Engle (23 points on 7 of 15 shooting) would keep chipping away and eventually take the lead for good at the 11:57 mark of the second half when Engle kicked out a pass to a wide open Rich Dunham for 3, then followed with a layup of his own.
The Griffins lead would swell to eight with 7:50 left in regulation, but Rosemont would start to rally from there.
Mekhi Clemons would score also score 23 while
Tarrell Willis chipped in 19 - many of them during the second half run. Rosemont would eventually get the Gwynedd lead to 72-71 on the second of Clemons two free throws with 37 seconds left in regulation.
The Ravens would then follow with a defensive stand that ended with a Rich Dunham turnover with 11 seconds left. After a timeout, Rosemont put the ball in the ahnds of Simonson, who made a move through the lane but had his shot contested enough to where it would slide off the side of the rim and into Lopez's waiting arms to preserve the Griffin victory.
Rosemont travels to Marywood on Saturday for a second meeting against the Pacers.
