COLCHESTER, Vt. - Junior Joël Kabimba (Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo/Middleburg Academy/Bryant) and sophomore CJ Crews (Tampa, Fla./Bayshore Christian School) hit three-pointers 20 seconds apart with less than two minutes remaining to give the Saint Michael's College men's basketball team the lead for good in a 75-74 victory over regionally-ranked University of New Haven on Wednesday in the Ross Sports Center.

The teams opened Northeast-10 Conference play with the contest, with the Chargers entering the game third in the latest D2SIDA East Region Media Poll after ending the 2021-22 season in the NCAA regional semifinals.

RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (3-0, 1-0 NE10), New Haven (0-1, 0-1 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Kabimba, 24 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 10-for-18 field goals, 4-for-9 three-pointers
• Crews, 23 points, 4 assists, 7-for-11 field goals, 5-for-8 three-pointers
• Junior Kasai Brown (Brooklyn, N.Y./Millbrook School), 11 points, 4 steals, 2 blocks, 2 assists
• First-year Alan Brzezinski (Örebro, Sweden/Western Reserve Academy), 7 points
• Sophomore Jacob Duniver (Fredericksburg, Va./Woodstock Academy), 6 points, 7 rebounds, 2 steals
• Junior Romar Reid (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Woodstock Academy/Manhattan), 5 assists

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Ty Perry, 20 points, 9 rebounds, 3 steals
• Junior Davontrey Thomas, 20 points, 4-for-8 three-pointers
• Senior Majur Majak, 10 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks
• Graduate student Quashawn Lane, 10 points, 8 assists

GAME FACTS

• The Purple Knights improved to 3-0 for the first time since beginning 2013-14 5-0, with their wins coming by a combined 12 points.
• Saint Michael's downed the Chargers for the first time since Jan. 24, 2017.
• The Purple and Gold committed only 10 turnovers while forcing eight steals off of 14 New Haven giveaways.
• The hosts made as many three-pointers as the visitors attempted, shooting 14-for-35 (40.0%) from deep to the Chargers' 5-for-14 (35.7%) showing.
• Crews tied his career high in scoring, while Kabimba reached a career high. He hit four three-pointers after entering the day with 10 over his first 50 collegiate contests.

THE ACTION

• Kabimba and Crews both knocked down threes within the first 54 seconds of the game to give the Purple Knights a 6-0 lead, and Duniver's triple pushed the lead to 13-6 at 16:35 of the opening half.
• After Perry's lay-in with 14:43 left drew New Haven within 13-12, Brzezinski and Perry traded two free throws apiece for the only points prior to Perry putting home a go-ahead lay-in at 9:49 (16-15). Thomas' jumper pushed the lead to 20-15 with 8:05 left.
• The Chargers' lead never climbed past five points, and Brown's lay-up at 18 seconds provided Saint Michael's a 32-31 edge at halftime.
• Crews' triple extended the lead to 40-35 at 17:16 of the second half, and Brown's three helped the hosts match their largest lead to that point, 45-38, with 14:56 remaining.
• Brown knocked down another three at 8:23 before Reid's jumper from the elbow pushed the lead to 63-53 with 7:45 remaining.
• New Haven pushed back in front thanks to a 13-2 response, capped by Perry's go-ahead lay-up at 2:10 (66-65). The lead was short-lived, as Kabimba hit a three 17 seconds later before Crews buried a transition triple just 20 seconds after that. Kabimba's lay-up made it a 73-66 game with 47 seconds to go.
• The Chargers chipped away down the stretch, with graduate student Victor Olawoye hitting a three at 34 ticks and, after a Purple Knight turnover, Thomas drilling a deep three at nine seconds to make it 75-74. A missed Saint Michael's free throw with six seconds to go gave New Haven a chance to win, but the visitors did not take a final shot after pushing the ball to the perimeter.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Saturday vs. The College of Saint Rose, 7 p.m.
• The Purple Knights host a Mobilization of Volunteer Efforts (MOVE) Hunger & Homelessness Awareness Week food drive that night. Patrons with three non-perishable food items receive free admission.