COLCHESTER, Vt. - Senior CJ Crews (Tampa, Fla./Bayshore Christian School) buried a pair of free throws with six seconds left in overtime to put the Saint Michael's College men's basketball team in front for good in a 74-73 victory over Northeast-10 Conference foe University of New Haven on Saturday in the Ross Sports Center.
 
With their regular season complete and the remaining teams in the league playing finales on Tuesday, the Purple Knights are slated to visit New Haven again for an NE10 Championship first-round game next Friday.
 
On Saturday, the Purple Knights honored Crews and seniors Alan Brzezinski (Örebro, Sweden/Western Reserve Academy) and Jacob Duniver (Fredericksburg, Va./Woodstock Academy) prior to the game.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (8-20, 4-16 NE10), New Haven (12-15, 7-12 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior CJ Crews (Tampa, Fla./Bayshore Christian School), 33 points (tied career high), 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 three-pointers, 11-for-12 free throws
• Senior Jacob Duniver (Fredericksburg, Va./Woodstock Academy), 11 points, 6 rebounds, 4-for-8 field goals, 3-for-6 three-pointers
• Redshirt first-year Greg Kenney (Williston Park, N.Y./The Frederick Gunn School/LIU), 11 points, 7 rebounds, 2-for-5 three-pointers
• Redshirt first-year Marcus Meeks (Prairie Village, Kan./Brewster Academy), 10 points, 4 rebounds, 5-for-6 field goals
• Senior Alan Brzezinski (Örebro, Sweden/Western Reserve Academy), 7 rebounds
• First-year Rico Byrd (East Moline, Ill./The Kiski School), 6 assists

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Tristian Jeffries, 20 points, 8-for-17 field goals
• Senior Mohamed Traore, 15 points, 3 assists
• Sophomore Jah'Likai King, 10 points, 6 rebounds, 6 assists
• Graduate student Syrus Grisby, 10 rebounds

GAME FACTS

• The Purple Knights held a 46-39 rebounding lead while shooting 14-of-15 on free throws.
• Saint Michael's defeated New Haven for the fourth time in six tries, taking its third straight meeting in Ross Sports Center. Those three wins have been decided by a total of seven points.
• Crews passed Brian Young '90 (1,330) to take over 19th in program history in scoring with 1,362 points thanks to his second 33-point outing in three games. Crews became the fifth Purple Knight with at least 80 three-pointers in a season, pushing his total to 83.

THE ACTION

• Five Crews points sparked an 8-0 run that gave Saint Michael's a 17-9 lead by 12:42 of the opening half, and six Meeks points keyed a 10-1 run that extended the advantage to 27-14 at 7:34.
• New Haven trimmed its deficit to as little as 31-25 on Jeffries' third straight basket, with 2:26 left, but Duniver buried a three-pointer with 26 seconds remaining to make it 39-29 by halftime.
• After junior Ethan Simmon hit a three 20 seconds into the second half, Saint Michael's continued to lead by no more than eight points until sophomore TJ Henaghen (Hampden, Maine/Williston Northampton School) drilled a three from the left wing at 7:07, providing his team a 60-49 lead.
• Traore responded with consecutive threes to spark an 8-0 run, and he ultimately hit a tying three with 50 seconds to go (65-65).
• A Purple Knight miss with 31 seconds left was met by a Charger miss at the buzzer, and the teams went to overtime.
• Brzezinski's lay-in 18 seconds into overtime gave Saint Michael's a short-lived advantage, as the lead changed hands six times in the extra period, with neither team leading by more than two points.
• King hit a pair of free throws with eight seconds left to give New Haven a 73-72 edge, but Crews was fouled only two seconds later, and he converted both ends of a 1-and-1 to put Saint Michael's back in front.
• At the other end of the court, Duniver picked off a Charger pass along the baseline as time expired.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Friday at New Haven, NE10 Championship first-round game.