Syracuse, N.Y. – Junior forward
Isaiah Eisendorf (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook/Gannon) registered 20 points to lead the Le Moyne College men's basketball team to a 73-60 come-from-behind victory over Pace University on Saturday afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference action at Ted Grant Court.
Eisendorf, who tied his collegiate career best, scored 11 of his points in the first half, while finishing the contest with nine rebounds. Junior forward
Daniel Kaigler (Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Ludden/Gannon) recorded his first double-double as a Dolphin with 12 points and 10 rebounds, including 10 points and eight rebounds in the second half. Junior guards
Tyree Chambers (Bayreuth, Germany/Graf-Münster Gymnasium/Providence) and
Tanner Hyland (South Portland, Maine/South Portland/Bridgton Academy) each tallied 10 points in the game.
Christian White, who had two points and two assists for Monmouth in Le Moyne's 75-66 exhibition win over the Hawks on November 3, 2013, led Pace with 16 points and seven rebounds, including 10 points and five rebounds in the first half. Mike Demello came off the bench to record 14 points and seven rebounds, while Ryan Peterson hit four three-pointers for 12 points.
The Setters opened the game with the first five points on a lay-up by Bryan Rivers and a three-pointer by Peterson.
Le Moyne answered with eight straight points to take its first lead. Eisendorf drained a three-pointer, sophomore guard
C.J. Asuncion-Byrd (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich/St. Thomas More/Gannon), a prep school teammate of Peterson, made two free throws and then junior guard
Russell Sangster (Rockville, Md./Bullis School) buried a three-pointer.
After Peterson tied the score at eight with his second three-pointer, the Dolphins rattle off 14 of the next 18 points to take their largest lead of the half with 5:23 left in the half. Junior guard
Anthony Richards (New Castle, Pa./New Castle/West Virginia Wesleyan) knocked down a pair of three-pointers in the span, while Eisendorf made two lay-ups and Sangster and Chambers each made shots.
Following three points from each team, Pace tallied 14 of the next 17 points to regain the lead, 29-28, with 1:01 to go. White had five of the points, Demello scored four points, Peterson made a three-pointer and Luke McLaughlin added a jumper.
The teams went into the locker room with Pace leading 31-30 after Kaigler and White traded points.
The teams went back and forth over the opening eight minutes of the second half with the score being tied four times.
After Sangster made a free throw to knot the score at 42 with 12:02 left, the Setters scored five straight points to tie their biggest lead of the game. Peterson put his team ahead with a three-pointer and then Rivers made two foul shots.
Le Moyne responded with an 11-2 run to take the lead for good. Eisendorf started the streak with a three-pointer, Chambers and Kaigler made lay-ups and then Hyland hit two jump shots.
Demello got the Setters within two for the final time with two free throws with 5:55 left before the Dolphins rattled off 15 of the next 20 points to take control of the game. Hyland drained consecutive three-pointers in the streak, while Eisendorf had four points and Kaigler tallied the final five of the run.
White got Pace within 69-60 with a three-pointer with 1:19 left, but Chambers made two free throws and Kaigler had a put-back lay-up to deliver the game's final margin.
Le Moyne (3-1, 1-1 NE-10), which won its home opener for the fourth straight year, hosts non-conference foe LIU Post on Tuesday at 7:00 p.m.