COLCHESTER, Vt. - The second-place Saint Michael's College men's basketball team held off Southern Connecticut State University, 58-55, on Saturday during Northeast 10 Conference action in the Ross Sports Center. The Purple Knights improved to 11-2 in their last 13 games and remained one win short of Saint Anselm College for first place in the NE10 exactly halfway through their league slate.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (13-6, 7-2 NE10), Southern Connecticut State (8-9, 4-5 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Junior Latiek Briscoe Jr. (Brooklyn, N.Y./Saint Francis Prep/Saint Edward's), 16 points, 7 rebounds
• Sophomore Greg Kenney (Williston Park, N.Y./The Frederick Gunn School/LIU), 12 points, 3 blocks, 2-for-2 three-pointers, 4-for-4 free throws
• First-year Quintin Floyd (Windsor, Conn./Choate Rosemary Hall), 6 points, 5 rebounds
• Junior TJ Henaghen (Hampden, Maine/Williston Northampton School), 2 blocks

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Junior Simon Percy, 13 points, 4-for-8 field goals, 4-for-4 free throws
• Graduate student Justice Ellison, 11 points
• Graduate student Cherif Diarra, 10 points, 16 rebounds, 3 blocks
• Junior Malik Banks, 10 points

GAME FACTS

• Saint Michael's committed only six turnovers and the Owls just seven. Despite the slim disparity, the hosts held a 12-2 lead in points off of giveaways.

THE ACTION

• Kenney's five points helped the Purple Knights lead 8-3 by 17:23 of the first half before the Owls later used a 14-2 run to lead 28-20 on Diarra's free throw at 2:05. Banks had seven points in the stretch.
• Briscoe scored the next eight points to spark a 20-4 run that bridge halftime, netting 11 of the points in total. The Purple Knights were up 40-32 after sophomore Abdur-Rahman De Leon (Roxbury, Mass./Saint Thomas More School) worked through to contact for a bucket on his way to a three-point play.
• The Owls swung the lead in their favor with an 11-2 jaunt that gave them a 45-44 edge at 7:13, the first of four lead changes in 2:04. However, Kenney's three-pointer from the corner produced the final swing, at 5:09, handing Saint Michael's a 50-49 lead and igniting a key 8-0 run.
• After Ellison's three-point play cut the deficit to 57-55 with 30 seconds remaining, Briscoe split a pair of freebies nine seconds later. On the final Owl possession, Henaghen blocked a tying three-point attempt with three seconds left, his second rejection of a tying triple try in the waning seconds in the last week. Saint Michael's was awarded the rebound with 0.3 seconds to go.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Tuesday vs. Bentley University, 7:30 p.m.