Solid second half falls short for Men’s Basketball against Eastern Mennonite

BRIDGEWATER, Va. --- Carlow University men's basketball concluded the Carlyle Whitelow Classic with a 71-61 loss to Eastern Mennonite University at Bridgewater University Sunday.

Jimmy Giannetta (Pittsburgh, Pa./Saint Joseph HS) led the Celtics with a game-high 20 points, and Tomasi Pavihi (Wellington, New Zealand/St. Mary's Ryken HS/College of Marin) recorded his second double-double of the season with 16 points and 10 rebounds while also dishing out a game-high five assists in the effort.

It was a back and forth game through the first five minutes before the Royals (1-4) went on a 14-2 run over the span of six minutes to take a 21-12 lead.

Eastern Mennonite led by 16 points at halftime.

Carlow cut the Royals' lead to seven early in the second half, but Eastern Mennonite maintained a double digit advantage throughout the remainder of the game. A layup from Giannetta and three-pointer by Aleel Batts (Middletown, Pa./Middletown Area HS) saw Carlow trailing by 10, but neither team would score the final minute of regulation.

Carlow held a narrow 30-29 margin in rebounds and shot slightly better from the foul line at 63.6 percent (7 for 11). Eastern Mennonite outscored the Celtics 30-10 off the bench.

BJ Nkrumah led the Royals with 16 points, and three other players recorded double figures in the win.

The Celtics travel to Penn State Shenango for a 5 p.m. game Nov. 25.