ROSEMONT, Pa. - It wasn't just the stormy weather outside. The Rosemont Ravens men's basketball team had to weather an indoor comeback by the visiting Gwynedd-Mercy Griffins to capture a 75-71 CSAC win in Alumnae Hall this afternoon. With the win the Ravens improved to 11-7 overall and held on to third place in the conference (7-4 CSAC). The Griffins dropped to 10-7 (5-5 CSAC) with the result. Rosemont's win was the first in six tries against Gwynedd-Mercy since the inception of Rosemont's program in 2009. The win improved Rosemont's home record to 8-1 on the season.
The Ravens also had to weather a rough start as point guard Justin Chaney (Jr./Williamstown, NJ) was knocked out of the game on Gwynedd-Mercy's first possession of the game. Chaney was able to return to the game with eight minutes left in the first half.
On the Raven's first possession of the day Kevin Fenstermaker (So., Archbishop Wood/Warminster, Pa.) drained a trey to open up the scoring. The Ravens extended their lead to 6-0 before the visiting Griffins started to warm up. With the score tied 11-11 and 12:15 left in the first the Ravens went on a 9-0 spurt to give themselves a 20-11 lead with 10:23 left. A three-pointer by Mitch Carsillo (Jr./Collingswood, NJ) with 6:36 left in the half gave the Ravens a 30-16 lead with 7:00 left. Rosemont extended their first half lead to 40-23 before the Griffins put together a late first-half 12-4 run to get to within nine points, 44-35 at the break.
The Ravens cruised to a 21-point lead at 56-37 with 14:50 remaining in the game. Still leading by a seemingly comfortable 21 points, 62-41 with 11:22 remaining, the Ravens had to hold their lead against a frantic comeback attempt by Gwynedd-Mercy. The Raven's lead evaporated quickly as the Griffins outscored the Ravens 20-3 to chop the lead to only four points at 65-61 with 4:37 left.
Justin Chaney's jumper with 3:47 left put Rosemont up 67-61 and seemed to be the catalyst to stop the Griffin's momentum. Gwynedd-Mercy got as close as three points down the stretch but could not pierce the Raven's lead.
The Ravens built their lead on their first half shooting, a blistering 63% from the field and 78% from beyond the arc. Overall Rosemont shot 55% on the day compared to 40% from Gwynedd-Mercy. The Griffins were able to keep close thanks in part to their free throw opportunities, shooting 83% on 20-of-24 attempts. Rosemont converted 64% on only 9-of-14 attempts.
The Ravens placed four players in double-figures. Dan Kearney (So./Cardinal O'Hara/Glen Mills, Pa.) was the high scorer for Rosemont with 17 points. Mitch Carsillo scored 14, 12 of which were from downtown. Tremell Green (Jr./BOK/Philadelphia) and Kevin Fenstermaker both added 10 points for Rosemont. Harrison Carsillo (Sr./Collingswood, NJ) led all players in the game with 10 rebounds.
The Griffin's Dan DelConte upped his 21 points/game average, scoring 27 while teammate Justin Knight scored 13 (nine from the charity strip).
Rosemont next travels to Scranton to face the Marywood Pacers on Wednesday, 1/25 in a CSAC game that is scheduled to tip-off at 7:00pm.