COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's basketball team used a late 10-2 run to blow open a one-point game and surge past Assumption University, 81-70, on Sunday during Northeast 10 Conference play in the Ross Sports Center. The Purple Knights won for the sixth time in seven games while sending the Greyhounds to their fourth consecutive defeat.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (8-5, 2-1 NE10), Assumption (7-5, 2-1 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Junior Latiek Briscoe Jr. (Brooklyn, N.Y./Saint Francis Prep/Saint Edward's), 21 points (career high), 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 6-for-12, 4-for-5 three-pointers, 5-for-6 free throws
• Sophomore Greg Kenney (Williston Park, N.Y./The Frederick Gunn School/LIU), 15 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals, 6-for-7 free throws
• Senior Zocko Littleton (Albany, Ga./Osborne/Rider), 13 points, 4 rebounds (3 offensive), 3-for-5 three-pointers
• First-year John Kelley (Plaistow, N.H./Kimball Union Academy), 10 points, 6 rebounds (3 offensive), 4-for-4 field goals
• First-year Quintin Floyd (Windsor, Conn./Choate Rosemary Hall), 7 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists
• Senior Nolan Marold (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Brewster Academy/Loyola Chicago), 7 rebounds (3 offensive), 2 steals

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Sophomore Zee McCown, 12 points, 6 assists
• Junior Tayeshawn Cunningham-Pemberton, 11 points
• Senior Jacob Gibbons, 11 points
• Sophomore Noah Payne, 10 points

GAME FACTS

• The Purple Knights are 6-1 in their last seven games, and 8-2 in their last 10.
• Saint Michael's held a 50-34 rebounding lead, including 20-11 on the offensive glass.
• The hosts shot 10-of-22 from three-point range to Assumption's 7-of-22 effort while going 19-for-24 on free throws to the visitors' 13-for-20.
• Each of the Purple Knights' prior 10 wins in the series had come by single digits.

THE ACTION

• Cunningham-Pemberton's pair of baskets 38 seconds apart gave Assumption a 6-0 lead by 18:11 of the opening stanza, but the hosts needed only 59 seconds to score the next seven points and capture their first lead on Kenney's steal and fast-break lay-up at 16:21.
• That bucket accounted for the first of five lead changes in a matter of 2:26 and sparked a 16-4 run that sophomore Raph Dumont (Quebec City, Quebec/Vanier College/Arkansas-Pine Bluff) finished with a lay-up at 12:59.
• The hosts led by as much as 30-19 during the opening half, after Briscoe buried a three-pointer at 4:37, and took a 41-32 lead into halftime.
• Littleton knocked down a three to make it 54-40 at 14:26 of the second stanza before the Greyhounds countered with a 16-3 run, drawing within 57-56 when sophomore Lenny Tangishaka knocked down a triple at 8:27.
• Briscoe responded with a three 19 seconds later, igniting a 10-2 run that Kelley finished off with a lay-up at 6:01, pushing the Purple Knights' lead to 67-58. The visitors never rallied closer than six points, with the lead ballooning to as many as 14 points in the final minute.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Wednesday at Southern New Hampshire University, 7:30 p.m.