SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The Saint Michael's College men's basketball team rallied from seven points down in the final two minutes of regulation to force overtime against regionally-ranked Le Moyne College on Wednesday before falling, 90-84, at Ted Grant Court. The Purple Knights are 3-13 overall and 2-9 in the Northeast-10 Conference after taking their second consecutive opponent to overtime on the road. The Dolphins won their 10th straight to improve to 14-3 and 9-2. Le Moyne, which entered the day tied for first place in the NE10 Southwest Division, stands fourth in the D2SIDA East Region Media Poll.

The Purple Knights, who hit the court for the first time in eight days, saw senior Matt Bonds (Accokeek, Md./North Point) total 28 points in 44 minutes, adding 14 rebounds and two assists. He shot 10-of-18 from the floor and 8-of-12 on free throws while registering his 11th double-double of the year. Sophomore Levi Holmes III (East Brunswick, N.J./Rutgers Prep) came within one point of his career high en route to 23 points, shooting 8-of-12 overall and 4-of-5 from three-point range while nabbing two steals.

Sophomore Winston Jones II (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley Stream Central) turned in a career-high 13 points on 5-of-9 shooting with four rebounds, including three offensive, off the bench. Senior Zaire Williams (Paterson, N.J./Rutgers Prep) dished off six assists and junior Colin Richey (Upton, Mass./Choate Rosemary Hall) had four. Saint Michael's held a 34-29 rebounding advantage and shot 7-of-14 from deep.

Bonds, who has 976 career rebounds, put forth his 13th 20-point game of the season. He took over 18th in program history in scoring with 1,321 points, passing Tom Hoey '79 (1,317) and Jay Wandtke '98 (1,317). With his four threes, Holmes tied Derek Henderson '99 for 25th in program history with 86 career triples.

Le Moyne, which is perfect in seven home games, saw six players score in double figures. Junior Russell Sangster had 19 points and five assists, classmate Isaiah Eisendorf notched 15 points, and junior Tanner Hyland provided 13 off the bench, shooting 4-of-7 from three-point range.

An early 8-0 run during which three players scored staked the Purple Knights to a 12-6 edge by 14:32 of the opening half, but junior Tyree Chambers rattled off eight points during a 10-2 stretch that put Le Moyne in front 21-18. Holmes and Bonds put home consecutive hoops to place the visitors in front at 22-21, but the Dolphins went ahead by four points on three occasions before leading 36-33 at halftime.

The hosts extended their advantage to 42-33 1:17 into the second stanza, but the Purple Knights never allowed the Dolphins to stretch the lead to double digits and made it a one-possession game in six instances before being down 69-62 on junior Anthony Richards' two free throws with 1:35 left in regulation. Bonds converted a three-point play 12 seconds later, and Sangster's one freebie was met by Williams' three-pointer from the left corner at 43.0 seconds. On Le Moyne's next possession, Williams drew the charge on a baseline drive and, at the other end, fed Bonds for a tying lay-in at 10 seconds. A Dolphin's jumper in the lane at the buzzer was off the mark.

Bonds and Jones hit one free throw apiece to provide a 72-70 cushion 47 seconds into overtime, the first of four lead changes. After making only four three-pointers in the entire second half, Le Moyne canned three in one key 1:28 stretch during the extra session, with Hyland hitting two, including one that put his team up for good at 2:12. Holmes buried a trey to cut the hole to 81-80 at 1:32, but Eisendorf hit a jumper at 49 seconds between three Dolphin free throws, and the hosts led 86-80. Holmes made two freebies at 30 seconds, but Le Moyne connected on four free throws, with a Purple Knight missed bucket sandwiched in between, to seal the win. The teams combined to shoot 16-of-21 on free throws in the five minutes of overtime after going 19-of-31 in 40 minutes of regulation.

The Purple Knights continue a tough stretch by hosting regionally-ranked The College of Saint Rose on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The Golden Knights are third in this week's regional poll.