The sweet taste of a milestone was soiled in the game’s waning moments for the men’s basketball team.

Junior business major Denzel Primus-Devonish surpassed the 300 assist mark for his career as the Setters lost to the Penmen of Southern New Hampshire University 68-67 in the contest’s final moments. Only 12 other Setters have ever surpassed 300 assists in their career and Primus-Devonish became number 13.

However, milestones don’t guarantee victories and the visiting Penmen reiterated that point in the closing seconds of the contest.

This game featured a riveting finish for the 271 fans in attendance. When the home team was down 66-64 with less than 30 seconds to go, junior finance major Ahmad George got a steal and a bucket to tie the game at 66. George hit a free throw to give the Setters their last lead of the evening before Mike Stys hit a layup with nine seconds left to play.

It was a tightly contested match in almost every statistical category. The Penmen notched 16 assists compared to just 15 from Pace, and both teams shot 42 percent from the field on the evening. Also, neither team had a lead larger than eight points at any point in the game.

Pace dominated in the points off turnovers category with 32 compared to just eight Penmen points off mistakes. The Setters also only gave the ball up 10 times compared to a total of 17 by Southern New Hampshire.

Still the Penmen were able to win outright on the glass by out-rebounding the Setters 41-33 throughout the game. The leading rebounder for the Penmen was C.J. Marriro with 12 on the evening.

Also, the Setters had no answer for the offensive onslaught from B.J. Cardarelli. Southern New Hampshire’s leading scorer tallied 32 points on his own throughout the game. No other Penmen had more than ten points other than Cardarelli.

The Setters got a good output from junior forward Jonathan Merceus who scored 24 points and snatched nine rebounds from the rafters of Goldstein Fitness Center. Pace also had two other players in double figures on the evening. Primus-Devonish racked up 14 points and junior information technology major Kai Smith had eleven points of his own in the game.

With the loss Pace falls to 8-8 overall with a record of 5-7 in the Northeast-10. The Setters will look to relocate their winning ways against the Warriors of Merrimack College on Jan. 29.