NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The Saint Michael's College men's basketball team lost an 85-73 decision to Northeast-10 Conference foe Southern Connecticut State University on Saturday at Moore Field House.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (6-16, 2-12 NE10), Southern Connecticut State (11-9, 7-7 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior CJ Crews (Tampa, Fla./Bayshore Christian School), 22 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 4 three-pointers, 6-for-6 free throws
• First-year Rico Byrd (East Moline, Ill./The Kiski School), 22 points, 3 assists, 9-for-16 field goals, 4-for-4 free throws
• Junior Nolan Marold (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Brewster Academy/Loyola Chicago), 18 points, 5 rebounds, 7-for-9 field goals, 4-for-5 free throws
• Redshirt first-year Marcus Meeks (Prairie Village, Kan./Brewster Academy), 5 rebounds

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Antonio Chandler, 20 points, 10 rebounds, 5 offensive rebounds, 9-for-13 field goals
• Sophomore Isaac Hester, 16 points
• Junior Cherif Diarra, 15 points, 11 rebounds
• Junior Albert Vargas, 13 points, 6 assists
• First-year Christian McClease, 11 points

GAME FACTS

• The trio of Byrd, Crews and Marold combined for 62 points one game after totaling 69 - each scoring 23 - during a win over American International College.
• Crews posted his sixth 20-point outing in nine games, and Byrd hit the mark for the third time in four games.

THE ACTION

• Vargas played a hand in his team's first 11 points, including netting five himself during a 9-2 run that gave the Owls an 11-6 edge by 16:23 of the opening half.
• Neither team led by more than six points until Hester drained a three-pointer with 3:56 to go (38-29), but that proved to be the largest advantage of the half, matched by Chandler's late tip-in making it 46-37 at halftime.
• Diarra capped a 9-0 run at 18:34 of the second stanza with a lay-in that extended the lead to 50-37, and the hosts went in front by as much as 67-47 on Chandler's free throw at 13:10.
• Byrd (3), Crews (4) and Marold (6) did all of the scoring in a 13-2 run that brought Saint Michael's within 69-60 by 7:21, with all of the points coming in the paint or on free throws.
• That was as close as the Purple Knights would get, as McClease knocked down a three 44 seconds later to kick off a 10-2 run.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Wednesday at regionally-ranked Assumption University, 7:30 p.m.
• The Greyhounds were seventh in this week's D2 CSC East Region poll.