COLCHESTER, Vt. - The top-seeded Saint Michael's College men's basketball team used a 10-1 run in the final six minutes to rally past No. 8 Southern Connecticut State University, 68-62, in an all-Northeast-10 Conference match-up in a NCAA Division II East Regional Championship quarterfinal on Saturday at Ross Sports Center.
 
The Purple Knights, who returned to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000-01 while hosting games for the first time since 1959-60, advanced to Sunday night's semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Saint Michael's will face No. 4 Daemen University or No. 5 Thomas Jefferson University, which are meeting in Saturday's fourth quarterfinal.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (23-8), Southern Connecticut State (22-11)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Sophomore Darrel Yepdo (Dracut, Mass./Brooks School), 21 points, 2 steals, 7-for-13 field goals, 3-for-4 three-pointers, 4-for-4 free throws
• Junior CJ Crews (Tampa, Fla./Bayshore Christian School), 16 points, 6 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals, 6-for-8 free throws
• Senior Romar Reid (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Woodstock Academy/Manhattan), 13 points, 5 rebounds, 6-for-8 free throws
• Sophomore Nolan Marold (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Brewster Academy/Loyola Chicago), 9 points, 12 rebounds, 6 offensive rebounds, 3 blocks, 4-for-5 field goals
• Junior Jacob Duniver (Fredericksburg, Va./Woodstock Academy), 6 rebounds
• First-year Sebastian Andersson (Stockholm, Sweden/Korrespondensgymnasiet/Eastern Washington), 6 rebounds (5 offensive) in 11 minutes

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Graduate student Josh McGettigan, 21 points, 6 rebounds, 7-for-7 free throws
• Sophomore Cherif Diarra, 14 points, 13 rebounds, 6 offensive rebounds, 3 assists, 5-for-8 field goals
• Junior Marty Silvera, 9 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 3 steals
• Graduate student Mason Williams, 8 points

GAME FACTS

• The Purple Knights were 22nd in this week's D2CSC national poll and received votes toward the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) rankings.
• Southern Connecticut State entered the game fresh from a runner-up finish in the NE10 Championship.
• The teams traded the lead 18 times, while the Purple Knights shot 6-for-17 (35.3%) from three-point range to the Owls' 6-for-25 (24.0%).
• The Purple Knights are making their 13th NCAA Tournament appearance, and have qualified for at least the regional semifinal round in each. They improved to 11-2 in their opening-round NCAA game.
• Saint Michael's played its first home NCAA Tournament game since March 4, 1960, when it called Burlington's Memorial Auditorium home. The Ross Sports Center opened in 1973.
• The Purple and Gold improved to 20-15 in NCAA games, and 40-38 overall in the postseason, including 9-2 as a No. 1 seed. The Purple Knights are 18-5 at home in the postseason, including 5-1 in the NCAA Tournament after losing their initial NCAA contest.
• Saint Michael's defeated the Owls three times this season, downing a team three times in one season for the first time since also besting the Owls on three occasions in 2014-15. The Purple Knights improved to 2-0 all-time in the postseason series, also winning in a 2015 NE10 quarterfinal.
• The Purple Knights are 14-4 in single-digit games and earned the 23rd victory, tying the 1966-67 and 1996-97 squads for third in program annals.

THE ACTION

• Marold's lay-in at 14:27 of the opening half provided the Purple Knights a 13-11 edge before Diarra scored six points during an 11-2 response.
• Junior Alan Brzezinski (Örebro, Sweden/Western Reserve Academy) canned a three to bring the hosts within 25-24 at 8:27, and Marold threw down a go-ahead dunk to spark a 7-0 run that Yepdo finished with five points. Saint Michael's led 37-31 with 4:51 to go.
• McGettigan's lay-in trimmed the deficit to 39-38 at 1:31, and the Owls trailed by that score at halftime.
• The teams traded the lead seven times in the opening 10:22 of the second half, with neither leading by more than two points in that time.
• Williams put home a lay-up to give the Owls a 56-52 edge with 6:08 to go, and McGettigan's basket at 5:22 still had the visitors ahead by a 58-55 count.
• After two Crews free throws, Yepdo knocked down a go-ahead triple at 4:22, and Marold provided a tip-in with 3:22 left to make it 61-58. The Purple Knights added a 5-of-6 free throw showing between 2:16 and 59.4 seconds, with Reid hitting three and Yepdo's final pair pushing the lead to 66-59.
• McGettigan knocked down three free throws of his own with 33 ticks left, but Crews connected on a pair at 24.1 seconds to clinch the victory.