SCRANTON, Pa. – The Neumann University men's basketball fell short in a 73-69 battle at Marywood University in Atlantic East Conference action on Wednesday evening.
 
Jalen Vaughns returned to the court and led four Knights in double-digits with 18 points. He also grabbed eight rebounds and two blocks. Ryan Starr netted 13 points, nine assists and eight boards. Tony James tallied 12 points, eight rebounds and five assists. Kyle Thompson added 10 points.
 
The first part of the game featured five lead changes and three tied scores. With the Knights leading 19-18, the Pacers went on a 9-0 run and built a 30-20 lead with 8:08 on the clock. A James jumper with 6:06 left pulled Neumann to within four, 32-28. Marywood answered with the next eight points to extend its lead to 12, 40-28. Starr hit a jumper just before the buzzer and the Pacers held a 44-36 advantage at the break.
 
Both teams started out slow coming out of the break, but Neumann started to chip into the lead and pulled with two, 50-48, on a layup-and-one by Starr with 14:31 on the clock. With 9:36 remaining, a layup by James drew the teams even at 56. The Pacers scored the next three points to take the lead right back. Marywood would hold the lead through the rest of regulation, anywhere from one-to-five points. Neumann battled but could not get the key basket to fall to draw back even or take the lead.
 
Neumann (14-6, 4-3 Atlantic East) will look to get back into the win column on Saturday when it hosts Immaculata beginning at 3:00 PM.