COLCHESTER, Vt. - The top-seeded Saint Michael's College men's basketball team lost to fifth-seeded Southern New Hampshire University, 97-65, in a Northeast-10 Conference Championship semifinal on Wednesday evening in the Ross Sports Center. The Purple Knights made their first home semifinal appearance in 23 years.
 
The Purple Knights, who received votes toward both national polls this week, were first in this week's NCAA East Region poll and await their NCAA Tournament fate; the field will be revealed on Sunday at 11 p.m. The Penmen were fifth and will take on sixth-seeded Southern Connecticut State University in Saturday's NE10 title game.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (22-8), Southern New Hampshire (20-10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior Romar Reid (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Woodstock Academy/Manhattan), 27 points, 2 assists, 8-for-17 field goals, 7-for-11 three-pointers, 4-for-4 free throws
• Sophomore Darrel Yepdo (Dracut, Mass./Brooks School), 15 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, 5-for-10 field goals, 3-for-7 three-pointers
• Junior Jhamyl Fricas (Lawrence, Mass./Worcester Academy/Connors State), 8 points, 2 steals
• Sophomore Nolan Marold (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Brewster Academy/Loyola Chicago), 6 points, 5 rebounds, 2 assists, 3-for-5 field goals
• Sophomore Alan Brzezinski (Örebro, Sweden/Western Reserve Academy), 5 points, 5 rebounds

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Graduate student Matt Becht, 33 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 10-for-16 field goals, 8-for-12 three-pointers
• Junior Kurtis Henderson, 23 points, 4 assists, 7-for-10 three-pointers
• Junior Derrick Grant, 11 points, 6 rebounds, 3 offensive rebounds
• Senior Noah Kamba, 9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists
• Senior Preston Santos, 8 points
• Junior Jordan Brathwaite, 10 rebounds

GAME FACTS

• Saint Michael's hosted its fourth NE10 Championship semifinal contest, and its first since 2001.
• Saint Michael's suffered only its fifth postseason loss in 22 home games, and fourth in 14 NE10 Championship affairs at the Ross Sports Center.
• The Purple Knights shot 12-of-32 from three-point range (37.5%), but the Penmen were 19-for-39 (48.7%) from deep.
• Saint Michael's committed only nine turnovers.

THE ACTION

• Brzezinski (19:13) and Yepdo (18:08) sandwiched three-pointers around Santos' triple at 18:50 of the opening half before Reid's pair of free throws gave the hosts an 8-3 edge with 17:23 left.
• Reid's trey had his team up 11-6 at 16:17, but the Penmen responded with a 22-4 run that took 5:47 to elapse. Becht and Henderson both scored nine points, as Henderson drained three threes.
• The Purple Knights drew within nine points on a trio of occasions, including 39-30 on Yepdo's three with 4:46 remaining.
• Henderson sparked a 7-0 counter with a three 50 seconds later, and the visitors took a 49-37 lead into halftime.
• The run extended to 17-0 as the Penmen netted the first 10 points of the second stanza, with Becht and Grant splitting the scoring.
• Brzezinski's jumper at 17:33 pulled Saint Michael's within 20, and the hosts trimmed the deficit to 21 on three additional occasions but came no closer.