"It feels great to be in the playoffs," said head coach Jamie Chadwin. "We really earned it. It is a testament to the team's work ethic and how they were able to persevere through the rough start, when we began the season 1-10."
The Mighty Macs surely have turned it around. Over the past 13 games, Immaculata has gone 9-4 to improve to 10-14 overall and 10-7 in the conference. In their first year, 2005-06, the Mighty Macs recorded a mark of 5-20 overall.
Freshman Jayson Hyman ecorded 17 points and seven rebounds, while junior Robert Jones collected 19 points, eight rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block. Senior Kris Behm amassed eight points, four rebounds and four steals on senior night. Sophomore Kyle Finklea, who started his first game since his ankle injury, registered 16 points, four assists and three steals.
"It was good to see Kyle back in the lineup," stated Chadwin. "What he does is loosen the defense, which enables other guys to step up. We had Rob (Jones) score 19, and Jayson (Hyman) played great. So he is a great asset on the court."
With the score knotted at 5-5 with 17:01 left in the first half, Immaculata used a 15-7 run to grab a 20-12 lead at 10:13. The Mighty Macs pushed their first half lead to 36-24 at the 2:31 mark and took a 41-33 lead into intermission.
Immaculata began the half with a 26-16 run to post a 67-49 lead with 9:00 left in the second half. The Eagles would not get any closer, as the Mighty Macs posted the historic 76-57 victory.
Mike Johnson paced Eastern (15-9, 10-7 PAC) with 21 points, while Matt Malloy added 14 points.