SYRACUSE, N.Y. - The 11th-seeded Saint Michael's College men's basketball team's season came to an end by the narrowest of margins at No. 6 Le Moyne College, 77-74, on Friday evening during a Northeast-10 Conference Championship first-round contest at Ted Grant Court. The Dolphins were among 10 teams under consideration for the latest NCAA East Region rankings.

RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (11-18), Le Moyne (15-14)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Sophomore CJ Crews (Tampa, Fla./Bayshore Christian School), 26 points (career high), 8-for-12 field goals, 5-for-9 three-pointers, 5-for-5 free throws
• First-year Alan Brzezinski (Örebro, Sweden/Western Reserve Academy), 21 points (career high), 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 5-for-9 three-pointers, 4-for-5 free throws
• First-year Darrel Yepdo (Dracut, Mass./Brooks School), 14 points, 8 assists (career high), 5 rebounds, 3 offensive rebounds, 4 steals, 7-for-11 field goals
• Sophomore Chuma Oyigbo (Stoughton, Mass./Redemption Christian [N.Y.] Academy), 5 points, 8 rebounds
• Sophomore Nahshon Battle (Scotch Plains, N.J./Woodstock Academy), 4 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Graduate student Nate McClure, 15 points, 4 assists, 3-for-6 three-pointers
• Junior Darrick Jones Jr., 14 points, 5 rebounds, 4-for-5 three-pointers
• Senior Xavier Wilson, 13 points, 5 rebounds, 7-for-9 free throws
• Redshirt sophomore Kevin Constant, 12 points, 3 blocks, 4-for-5 field goals
• Graduate student Mike DePersia, 6 rebounds, 6 assists, 4 steals, 2 blocks

GAME FACTS

• The teams played through 12 lead changes and six ties, and combined to score 87 points on 62.0% shooting in the second half alone. Saint Michael's held a 62.1%-61.9% shooting edge in that stanza.
• Sixteen of the Purple and Gold's 29 contests were decided by eight points or less this season, with Friday's game the eighth determined by one possession. Six of those were one-point affairs.
• Saint Michael's slipped to 5-3 in the postseason against Le Moyne, dating back to their first meeting in 1951 during the National Catholic Invitation Tournament. Six of the last seven were decided by eight points or fewer, with Friday's game the fourth one-possession game.
• Yepdo became the first Purple Knight to hand out eight assists in a postseason game since Brian Miles '01 had 11 on Feb. 26, 2001, against Merrimack College in an NE10 quarterfinal. Crews netted the most points since Mark Pater '01 scored 28 versus the University of Massachusetts at Lowell on March 9, 2001, in an NCAA Tournament second round game. Brzezinski and Crews were the first Purple Knights to can five threes since Corey Crawford II '15 was a perfect 6-for-6 on March 1, 2015, at Southern Connecticut State University in an NE10 Championship quarterfinal.
• The Purple Knights finished the season with a 76.9% free throw percentage, good for second in program history, behind only the 2018-19 squad (78.8%), and fourth in three-pointers (249).

THE ACTION

• Le Moyne scored the first seven points, as three Dolphins tallied, but three Purple Knights later scored in a tying 7-0 run that brought the teams level at 17-17 with 8:40 to go in the first half when Crews hit a three.
• Crews' second three-pointer in 43 seconds gave Saint Michael's its first lead, 20-19, and a Crews jumper had the visitors up 22-21 with 6:19 left.
• The Dolphins scored the next 11 points, as four players scored, and Jones' triple pushed his team's lead to 37-25 by 49 seconds. The hosts led 37-27 at halftime.
• Two Wilson freebies had Le Moyne in front 41-30 by 18:22 of the second half.
• Three threes by Brzezinski highlighted a 19-6 Saint Michael's response, and Oyigbo's jumper at 12:22 capped the run to give the visitors a 49-47 edge.
• Four lead swings later, a 9-1 run provided the Purple and Gold a 65-59 lead with 5:51 left when Brzezinski hit a pair from the charity stripe.
• Those points were part of a 7:27 period during which the teams combined to score points on 20 of 26 possessions, as Constant's breakaway dunk allowed Le Moyne to once again lead, 72-71, at 2:43 before Crews hit a go-ahead three just eight seconds later to cap the frenzied stretch.
• Constant's driving lay-up-and-one swung the lead in the Dolphins' favor, 75-74, with 1:13 left.
• The Purple Knights missed a trio of three-point attempts on the next possession and the front end of a one-and-one with 30.5 ticks to go.
• However, Yepdo forced a jump ball at 12.4 seconds, returning the ball to Saint Michael's. A turnover followed at 5.3 seconds, and Wilson hit a pair of important freebies one second later.
• Down three and inbounding under their own hoop, the Purple Knights had a downcourt heave intercepted by graduate student Isaiah Salter, who ran out the clock.