COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's basketball team lost its home opener to Assumption University, 87-75, on Wednesday evening during Northeast-10 Conference play in the Ross Sports Center. The Purple Knights are fifth in the latest D2CSC East Region poll.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (0-3, 0-1 NE10), Assumption (1-2, 1-0 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• First-year Rico Byrd (East Moline, Ill./The Kiski School), 21 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 7-for-16 field goals
• Senior CJ Crews (Tampa, Fla./Bayshore Christian School), 14 points, 2 steals, 5-for-10 field goals
• Sophomore TJ Henaghen (Hampden, Maine/Williston Northampton School), 12 points, 3 blocks, 2 steals, 6-for-11 field goals
• Senior Jacob Duniver (Fredericksburg, Va./Woodstock Academy), 9 points, 9 rebounds, 3 offensive rebounds, 5 assists
• Senior Alan Brzezinski (Örebro, Sweden/Western Reserve Academy), 8 points, 6 rebounds
• Redshirt first-year Marcus Meeks (Prairie Village, Kan./Brewster Academy), 5 points, 5 rebounds, 3 blocks

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Junior Daouda Dembele, 23 points, 5 rebounds, 2 steals, 11-for-16 field goals
• Graduate student Jamal Barnes, 19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 three-pointers
• First-year Noah Payne, 13 points, 5 assists, 4-for-6 field goals
• First-year Zee McCown, 11 points, 4 assists

THE ACTION

• Dembele had a pair of buckets before Barnes buried a three-pointer to give Assumption a 7-0 lead by 16:10 of the first half, and Barnes' three-point play extended the advantage to 14-4 with 12:31 remaining.
• The Purple Knights slowly chipped away to draw within 24-20 on Brzezinski's fast-break jumper with 5:32 to go, but the Greyhounds later used a 10-3 run during which Payne had six points to extend the lead to 14. Assumption was up 43-31 at halftime.
• After the visitors dropped in the first two buckets of the second half, Saint Michael's twice drew within 13 points, including as Duniver buried a three at 17:46 to make it 50-37.
• Assumption pushed its advantage to 66-46 with 10:34 remaining, but Crews' lay-in capped a 5-0 spurt.
• Dembele's lay-up at 5:41 gave the Greyhounds a game-high 79-55 lead, but the Purple Knights countered with a 16-3 run to trim their deficit to 82-71 on Duniver's triple with 1:36 to go.
• However, the hosts came no closer down the stretch, as Assumption scored on its next three possessions.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Saturday vs. Southern Connecticut State University, 12 p.m.