COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's basketball team lost to Southern New Hampshire University, 63-58, on Wednesday evening during Northeast 10 Conference play in the Ross Sports Center. While falling for only the third time in their last 12 games, the Purple Knights remained in second place with six regular-season games to go, one win ahead of a four-way logjam for third.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (14-8, 8-4 NE10), Southern New Hampshire (9-12, 3-9 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior Zocko Littleton (Albany, Ga./Osborne/Rider), 16 points, 6-for-12 field goals
• First-year Quintin Floyd (Windsor, Conn./Choate Rosemary Hall), 11 points
• Sophomore Abdur-Rahman De Leon (Roxbury, Mass./Saint Thomas More School), 9 points, 7 rebounds
• Senior Nolan Marold (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Brewster Academy/Loyola Chicago), 9 points, 6 rebounds (3 offensive), 3 blocks, 3-for-6 field goals
• Junior Latiek Briscoe Jr. (Brooklyn, N.Y./Saint Francis Prep/Saint Edward's), 7 rebounds (3 offensive)
• First-year John Kelley (Plaistow, N.H./Kimball Union Academy), 5 rebounds in 9 minutes

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Sophomore Jojo Wallace, 29 points, 6 rebounds, 7-for-12 three-pointers
• Senior Ugo Nwachukwu, 17 points, 7 rebounds, 4-for-5 three-pointers
• Redshirt junior Jahshawne Joseph, 8 rebounds

GAME FACTS

• The teams combined to commit only nine turnovers, with the Purple Knights surrendering the ball just four times.
• Southern New Hampshire shot 13-of-30 (43.3%) from three-point range, outscoring Saint Michael's, 39-12, from beyond the arc.

THE ACTION

• Littleton's jumper had Saint Michael's within 8-7 at 14:44 of the opening half before Wallace and Nwachukwu connected on back-to-back three-pointers, and another Wallace triple pushed the lead to 20-11 by 9:45.
• Junior TJ Henaghen (Hampden, Maine/Williston Northampton School) and Littleton made consecutive treys to kick off an 8-0 run, bringing the Purple Knights within 20-19 at 8:18 on De Leon's pair of free throws.
• Wallace scored 10 points in an ensuing 15-0 run that bridged halftime, and the Penmen led 37-23 at 18:41 of the second half when he knocked down a jumper. Wallace scored 23 points on 7-of-8 from three-point shooting in the opening half.
• Nwachukwu buried two threes 48 seconds apart to push the advantage to 43-27, and Southern New Hampshire still led 51-35 on redshirt junior Jack Hall's long two at 9:18.
• Saint Michael's countered with a 21-7 run to draw within 58-56 with 29.9 seconds to go when Littleton hit two free throws. He and Floyd scored seven points in the comeback, while De Leon had five.
• However, Wallace connected on a pair of free throws at 19.8 seconds prior to a Purple Knight miss, and Nwachukwu added two more freebies at 10.3 ticks to seal the win.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL'S GAME

• Saturday at Adelphi University, 3:30 p.m.