SAINT MARY OF THE WOODS, Ind. – A late 12-1 run wasn't enough for the Goshen men's basketball team to complete the comeback against Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College on Wednesday night. The Pomeroys held on for an 84-82 victory.
 
The Pomeroys got off to a hot start with two quick threes by Elkin Ramirez-Vasquez which forced Goshen to call an early timeout. The Leafs started to settle in and took their first lead at 17-16. Goshen built up to an eight-point lead before going into halftime at 41-39.
 
Five and a half minutes into the second half, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods took their first lead in nearly 12 minutes of action. They kept rolling and had a 13 point lead with under eight minutes remaining. With four minutes left, the Pomeroys still had a ten-point lead. An exciting Goshen rally would change that, though.
 
A jumper by Elias Ramirez and a couple of layups by Robert Sanders and Ryan Mansbarger cut the lead down to six. Later, Mansbarger went 2-2 from the line and hit a layup and Goshen was down by one. Then with 40 seconds to go, Ramirez made a layup, which gave Goshen an 82-81 lead. It was the first lead for the Leafs in nearly 15 minutes, and it had completed a 12-1 run.
 
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods answered. On their next possession, Isaiah Sims nailed a three in the corner and gave his team an 84-82 lead. Goshen had a decent three-point attempt as the buzzer sounded, but it bounced off the back iron and the Pomeroys escaped with a win.
 
Goshen (2-2) moved the ball around well, matching their home match against Andrews with 27 assists. The Maple Leafs had five blocks compared to none for their opponents. Michael Johnson and Ramirez each finished with 23 points. Mansbarger scored 15 with 7 rebounds. Robert Sanders dished out 11 assists.
 
Coach Tropf emphasized consistency after the close defeat. "Consistency is not something that comes overnight, but it does start with having great daily habits that you repeat over and over," he shared. "We need to work on that in our process to get better daily. I believe this group will do that – and this result will not define us."
 
This 2021-22 season is the inaugural season for the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods (1-1) men's basketball program. After a loss to Miami University-Hamilton, this win goes down in the record book as their first in program history.
 
Your Maple Leafs travel to face Eastern Michigan in an exhibition game on Friday, November 5^th that will not count towards their season record. The match will take place at 7:00 pm in Ypsilanti against the D-I school. The next home game for Goshen will be on Saturday, November 13^th at 3:00 pm against Madonna University.