WORCESTER, Mass. - The 23rd-ranked Saint Michael's College men's basketball team lost to Bloomfield College, 92-86, in a meeting between 2024 NCAA East Regional Championship qualifiers on Saturday at the Assumption University Tip-Off Classic in Laska Gymnasium. The Purple Knights were 23rd in the National Association of Basketball Coaches' (NABC) preseason national poll and first in the D2CSC East Region rankings, toward which the Bears received votes.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (0-2), Bloomfield (2-0)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior CJ Crews (Tampa, Fla./Bayshore Christian School), 19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 three-pointers
• First-year Rico Byrd (East Moline, Ill./The Kiski School), 18 points, 4 assists, 7-for-12 field goals
• Junior Nolan Marold (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Brewster Academy/Loyola Chicago), 16 points, 6 rebounds, 3 offensive rebounds, 2 blocks, 6-for-10 field goals
• Senior Alan Brzezinski (Örebro, Sweden/Western Reserve Academy), 15 points, 6 rebounds, 5-for-9 field goals, 3-for-5 three-pointers
• Senior Jacob Duniver (Fredericksburg, Va./Woodstock Academy), 8 points, 5 rebounds
• Redshirt first-year Greg Kenney (Williston Park, N.Y./The Frederick Gunn School/LIU), 9 rebounds
• Redshirt first-year Marcus Meeks (Prairie Village, Kan./Brewster Academy), 6 points, 5 rebounds

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Deavion Ellis, 32 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 11-for-15 field goals
• Redshirt junior Kareeme Davis, 18 points, 10 rebounds, 4 offensive rebounds
• Redshirt sophomore Starrell Hearns, 14 points, 3-for-6 three-pointers

GAME FACTS

• The Purple Knights outshot Bloomfield from the floor (46.2%-39.5%) and three-point range (39.1%-29.4%) being trimmed on the glass, 49-46.
• The teams played through 12 lead swings and six ties.

THE ACTION

• Neither team led by more than three points until Ellis' three-point play provided Bloomfield an 18-14 edge at 12:35 of the opening half, and first-year Ethan Maynard added a jumper 38 seconds later to push the lead to six.
• Hearns' three-pointer extended the advantage to 34-26 with 5:39 remaining, but Brzezinski knocked down a go-ahead triple to cap an 11-2 run with 1:59 left (37-36).
• Redshirt sophomore Donovan Crawford hit two free throws at 1:04 to send Bloomfield into the locker room up 40-39, and the lead grew to 48-41 on Hearns' lay-in early in the second stanza.
• Brzezinski's three finished off a 12-2 response at 15:06, putting Saint Michael's up 53-50. Meeks twice made buckets that pushed the lead to eight, and Byrd's pair of free throws had his team up 64-56 with 9:55 left in regulation.
• The Bears used a late 10-4 run to erase a five-point hole and lead 76-75 on junior Zamorian Singleton's three-point play with 3:03 to go, but Duniver hit a tying freebie at 2:20 before countering a Davis basket with two more free throws with 21 seconds left, and the teams headed to overtime tied at 78.
• Ellis scored the first five points in the extra session, but Saint Michael's twice drew within two points, including as Brzezinski drove for a lay-up at 2:03 (87-85).
• However, senior Edward Ngene's lay-in with 58 seconds to go made it a four-point game, and Bloomfield rebounded a missed Purple Knight three on the next possession before salting away the contest.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Wednesday vs. Assumption, 7:30 p.m.
• The Purple Knights begin Northeast-10 Conference play with the contest.