COLCHESTER, Vt. - The 23rd-ranked Saint Michael's College men's basketball team scored the final six points to defeat Assumption University, 70-65, on Wednesday in the Ross Sports Center and clinch at least a tie for the Northeast-10 Conference regular-season title, its first since the 2000-01 season.
 
The Purple Knights, who are up two games on second-place Bentley University with two contests remaining, were ranked 23rd in this week's D2CSC national poll while earning votes toward the National Association of Basketball Coaches' (NABC) national rankings. Saint Michael's is second in the latest D2CSC East Region rankings and is among 10 schools under consideration in the first NCAA East Region poll.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (20-6, 16-4 NE10), Assumption (14-12, 10-10 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Sophomore Darrel Yepdo (Dracut, Mass./Brooks School), 26 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 9-for-17 field goals, 5-for-8 three-pointers
• Senior Romar Reid (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Woodstock Academy/Manhattan), 12 points, 3 assists, 2 steals
• Sophomore Alan Brzezinski (Örebro, Sweden/Western Reserve Academy), 10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals, 4-for-10 field goals
• Sophomore Nolan Marold (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Brewster Academy/Loyola Chicago), 8 points, 10 rebounds, 5 offensive rebounds, 4-for-10 field goals
• Junior CJ Crews (Tampa, Fla./Bayshore Christian School), 8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists
• Junior Jacob Duniver (Fredericksburg, Va./Woodstock Academy), 6 rebounds

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Graduate student Kasey Draper, 29 points, 7 rebounds, 11-for-21 field goals, 6-for-11 three-pointers
• Senior Njavan Stewart, 14 points, 13 rebounds, 5 offensive rebounds
• Graduate student Kani Glover, 10 points, 3 assists
• Graduate student Alex Carlisle, 7 points, 6 assists, 5 rebounds

 
GAME FACTS

• The contest featured 14 lead swings and 11 ties.
• Tonight's game was the 100th meeting between the schools since 1959, with Assumption becoming the sixth different institution to face Saint Michael's 100 times.
• With 279 three-pointers this season, including eight on Wednesday, the Purple Knights broke the 2006-07 squad's school record (272).
• Saint Michael's reached the 20-win plateau for the eighth time, and the first since winning a record 27 games in 2000-01. Its 16 league wins tie for second in school annals, behind only the 2000-01 team (19).
• The Purple Knights previously won a pair of NE10 regular-season crowns, in 1996-97 and 2000-01.

THE ACTION

• Neither team led by more than six points in the opening half, as they played through eight ties and five lead changes.
• Assumption twice led by five early, including 15-10 on Draper's jumper at 13:57.
• Stewart's jumper later gave the Greyhounds a 32-30 edge with 3:41 to go before the Purple Knights scored the next eight points, with Yepdo burying back-to-back threes and Brzezinski's lay-in making it 38-32 at 2:20.
• Draper bookended a half-ending 11-2 run with threes, as his deep triple just before the buzzer sent Assumption into the locker room up 43-40.
• After the teams combined to shoot 13-for-26 from distance in the first half, they totaled a 4-for-26 second-half performance, including as the visitors were held to a 1-for-12 showing.
• Nine more lead swings occurred in the second stanza, including seven between Marold's bucket at 14:57 and first-year TJ Henaghen's (Hampden, Maine/Williston Northampton School) three at 11:44. That basket sparked an 11-1 run, which Reid and Yepdo capped with four points apiece, and the hosts led 64-56 at 7:06.
• Assumption scored the next nine points, keyed by a pair of Carlisle hoops and two free throws from sophomore Kyle Gaskins that gave the visitors a 65-64 edge with 1:40 to go.
• Yepdo drove for a go-ahead lay-in only 14 seconds later, and Duniver pulled a defensive board on the next possession before Reid converted a tough basket with his off hand at 32 seconds, making it 68-65.
• With the Greyhounds in the paint the next time down the floor, Yepdo came up with a steal before burying two clinching free throws at 13.9 seconds.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Saturday at regionally-ranked Adelphi University, 3:30 p.m.
• The Panthers were seventh in this week's D2CSC East Region poll and are among the 10 teams under consideration in the NCAA East Region rankings.