WEST HAVEN, Conn. - The Saint Michael's College men's basketball team downed the University of New Haven, 69-59, on Saturday at the Hazell Athletic Center. Thanks to action around the Northeast-10 Conference, the first-place Purple Knights extended their league lead to three games with five regular-season contests remaining.
 
The Purple and Gold received votes toward both the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and D2CSC national polls this week and also sits second in the D2CSC East Region poll.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (18-5, 14-3 NE10), New Haven (8-15, 5-12 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Sophomore Nolan Marold (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Brewster Academy/Loyola Chicago), 17 points, 12 rebounds, 2 assists, 7-for-12 field goals, 3-for-3 free throws
• Senior Romar Reid (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Woodstock Academy/Manhattan), 17 points, 3-for-4 three-pointers
• Sophomore Alan Brzezinski (Örebro, Sweden/Western Reserve Academy), 11 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 3-for-6 three-pointers
• Junior CJ Crews (Tampa, Fla./Bayshore Christian School), 9 points, 2 assists, 3 three-pointers
• Sophomore Darrel Yepdo (Dracut, Mass./Brooks School), 3 assists

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Davontrey Thomas, 22 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 9-for-16 field goals, 4-for-9 three-pointers
• First-year Jah'Likai King, 16 points, 7-for-14 field goals
• Sophomore Joshua Hopson, 10 points, 12 rebounds
• Sophomore Ethan Simmon, 9 points, 3 assists
• Graduate student Tyler Saint-Furcy, 7 assists

GAME FACTS

• Saint Michael's committed a season-low-tying five turnovers, giving the ball away a single-digit number of times for the sixth time this season. The visitors handed out 12 assists.
• The Purple and Gold outscored New Haven from beyond the arc, 36-21, thanks to shooting 12-for-30 (40.0%) from deep to the hosts' 7-for-24 (29.2%) showing. Saint Michael's also carried a 16-0 lead in bench scoring and a 16-2 advantage in points off of turnovers.
• Marold posted his fifth double-double of the season.
• The Purple Knights shot 5-of-7 on free throws, while the Chargers missed both of their attempts.
• The Purple Knights matched their highest overall win total (2013-14 and 2014-15) and NE10 victory figure (2013-14) since going 27-4 overall and 19-3 in league play in 2000-01.
• At 10-2 in true road games, the Purple Knights matched the 2000-01 squad's school record for road victories. Only eight other NCAA East Region teams entered the day with an above-.500 road mark, with just six more than one game over .500.
• Saint Michael's won at New Haven for the first time since Jan. 24, 2017.

THE ACTION

• Reid had six points and Marold four as the Purple Knights led 12-2 by 14:29 of the opening half.
• Simmon's tying three at 6:56 capped a 12-2 response, but Brzezinski's triple at 5:42 put Saint Michael's back on top (20-17) to stay.
• New Haven twice trimmed its deficit to one point before the end of the stanza, but Reid and Crews both hit threes in the final 40 seconds to push the lead to 35-28 by halftime.
• Thomas' lay-in drew the Chargers within 39-34 at 16:33 of the second period before four different Purple Knights combined to score 11 straight points over the next 1:53, sparking a run that ballooned to 20-4 by the time Brzezinski nailed a trey with 12:37 remaining. The visitors led 59-38.
• The Purple and Gold's lead never shrunk to single digits from there.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Tuesday at regionally-ranked Bentley University, 7:30 p.m.
• The Falcons were third in this week's D2CSC East Region poll, one spot shy of Saint Michael's.