Union (17-11) will advance to Saturday’s second-round game at the University of Rochester. The Griffins finish the season at 23-5.
Chris DelBrocco was one of three GMC players in double figures as the sophomore bucketed 20 points.
Cagianello netted 18 of his points in the first half as the Dutchmen dug out of an early six-point deficit. His second trey of the half tied the game at 12-12. He would again strike from downtown for his third three-pointer of the stanza to give Union a 35-28 lead right before the half and help the Dutchmen enter the locker room up 40-35 at the break.
The Griffins stormed back early in the second half as DelBrocco sank a three-pointer and senior Badou Gaye (Norristown, Pa./Kennedy-Kenrick) followed with a dunk to give GMC a 49-47 lead with 15 minutes to play. It was the last lead for Gwynedd as back-to-back longballs from Cagianello and Chris Murphy helped to restore a Union 57-51 edge.
Gwynedd-Mercy could only climb to as much as 68-63 with 6:02 to play before a 13-2 run by Union over the next four minutes extended the lead to double digits.
Gaye finished with 15 points and eight rebounds while senior Jeff Thomas added 13 points and 10 boards.
Devon Bruce chipped in 15 points and nine caroms and teammate Brian Scordato contributed 12 points.
Both teams shot 28-of-61 (45%) from the floor but Union connected on 10-of 29 (34%) from beyond the arc. The Dutchmen sank 18 of 20 tries from the line while the Griffins were only 9-of-19.
Newspaper Box Score Union College vs Gwynedd-Mercy College 03/03/05 7 p.m. at Gwynedd Valley, Pa. Griffin Complex At Gwynedd Valley, Pa. Griffin Complex UNION COLLEGE 84, GWYNEDD-MERCY COLLEGE 70 UNION COLLEGE (17-11) John Cagianello 9-18 6-7 29; Devon Bruce 6-11 3-4 15; Brian Scordato 5-14 0-0 12; Kyle Grimm 3-6 2-2 9; Chris Murphy 3-5 2-2 9; Joe Mackey 1-4 5-5 8; T.J. Ramey 1-2 0-0 2; Delon McAllister 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 28-61 18-20 84. GWYNEDD-MERCY COLLEGE (23-5) Chris DelBrocco 7-17 2-2 20; Badou Gaye 6-10 3-7 15; Jeff Thomas 5-9 3-8 13; Courtney Griffin 4-6 1-2 9; Rashid Santiago 3-6 0-0 6; Francis Bowe 1-5 0-0 3; Frank Barder 1-3 0-0 2; Kevin Lauer 1-2 0-0 2; Joe Kilpatrick 0-1 0-0 0; Troy Bixler 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 28-61 9-19 70. Union College................. 40 44 - 84 Gwynedd-Mercy College......... 35 35 - 70 3-point goals-Union College 10-29 (John Cagianello 5-10; Brian Scordato 2-7; Kyle Grimm 1-3; Joe Mackey 1-3; Chris Murphy 1-3; T.J. Ramey 0-1; Devon Bruce 0-2), Gwynedd-Mercy College 5-20 (Chris DelBrocco 4-10; Francis Bowe 1-4; Rashid Santiago 0-2; Frank Barder 0-2; Troy Bixler 0-2). Fouled out--Union College-None, Gwynedd-Mercy College-None. Rebounds-Union College 33 (Devon Bruce 9), Gwynedd-Mercy College 36 (Jeff Thomas 10). Assists-Union College 20 (John Cagianello 5), Gwynedd-Mercy College 16 (Rashid Santiago 5; Chris DelBrocco 5). Total fouls-Union College 13, Gwynedd-Mercy College 15. A-400 2005 NCAA Division III Tournament First-Round Game Winner to play at Univ. of Rochester on Saturday March 5th