WORCESTER, Mass. - A late 15-0 run helped send the Saint Michael's College men's basketball team past Chestnut Hill (Pa.) College, 77-70, in its season opener on Friday during the Assumption University Tip-Off Classic at Laska Gymnasium.
RECORDS
- Saint Michael's (1-0), Chestnut Hill (0-1)
SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS
- First-year Alan Brzezinski (Örebro, Sweden/Western Reserve Academy), 20 points, 4 rebounds, 6-for-8 field goals, 4-for-5 three-pointers, 4-for-4 free throws
- Sophomore CJ Crews (Tampa, Fla./Bayshore Christian School), 19 points, 5-for-10 three-pointers
- Junior Romar Reid (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Woodstock Academy/Manhattan), 14 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, 6-for-7 free throws
- Sophomore Chuma Oyigbo (Stoughton, Mass./Redemption Christian [N.Y.] Academy), 7 points, 5 rebounds, 4 steals
- Junior Jöel Kabimba (Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo/Middleburg Academy/Bryant), 7 points
- Sophomore Jacob Duniver (Fredericksburg, Va./Woodstock Academy), 6 rebounds
- Junior Kasai Brown (Brooklyn, N.Y./Millbrook School), 3 steals
OPPONENT LEADERS
- Sophomore MJ Iraldi, 22 points, 9 rebounds
- Graduate student Amir Warrick, 16 points, 6 rebounds
- Junior Conor Regan, 10 points, 7 rebounds
GAME FACTS
- Brzezinski made his college debut after missing last season due to injury.
- Chestnut Hill was chosen second in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) preseason poll.
- The Purple Knights improved to 2-1 in the all-time series, meeting Chestnut Hill for the first time since Dec. 20, 2015, while winning for the first time since Nov. 20, 2009.
THE ACTION
- Warrick's pair of free throws gave Chestnut Hill the largest lead by either team, at 9-3 with 17:18 left in the opening half, until the Purple Knights forged a 13-2 run to go ahead 26-17 with 7:27 remaining. Brzezinski scored the first seven points of the run while finishing with nine of the 13 points.
- Iraldi scored eight points in a tying 12-3 stretch, and Warrick's pair of free throws at 1:12 provided the Griffins a 36-32 lead.
- Brzezinski knocked down a pair of three-pointers in the final 1:02, including the go-ahead trey at eight seconds, and Saint Michael's led 38-36 at halftime.
- Crews was the third Purple Knight to score in a half-starting 7-2 run that provided his team a 45-38 lead, but Chestnut Hill scored the next 13 points to claim a 51-45 edge. The lead later extended to 63-54 on Regan's triple at 9:28.
- The Purple and Gold responded with the next 15 points, as Crews netted eight. Kabimba's jumper had his team up 69-63 with 5:27 to go, and he made a pair of freebies at the two-minute mark to push the lead to 72-68 after Warrick's jumper had produced a one-possession margin.
- Saint Michael's added five more free throws in the final 47 seconds.
NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME
- Saturday vs. Caldwell (N.J.) University at Assumption Tip-Off Classic, 3 p.m.
