COLCHESTER, Vt. - For the second time in three years, the Saint Michael's College men's basketball team will host Southern New Hampshire University for a Northeast 10 Conference Championship semifinal on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in the Ross Sports Center. Tickets for all postseason games are $10 for adults, $5 for senior citizens and children, and free for students at NE10 schools with a valid ID. Fans will not be permitted to bring bags or beverage containers into the building.
 
The sixth-seeded Purple Knights advanced by virtue of a 54-48 win at No. 3 Pace University during Saturday's first round, when senior Zocko Littleton (Albany, Ga./Osborne/Rider), junior Latiek Briscoe Jr. (Brooklyn, N.Y./Saint Francis Prep/Saint Edward's) and first-year Quintin Floyd (Windsor, Conn./Choate Rosemary Hall) combined for 36 points. The seventh-seeded Penmen also sprung an upset, downing No. 2 Bentley University, 96-93, in double overtime thanks to sophomore Jojo Wallace's tournament-record 48 points.
 
The Saint Michael's/Southern New Hampshire winner advances to Saturday's title game at the winner of the other semifinal between No. 1 Saint Anselm College and No. 4 Assumption University, with an automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament on the line. That championship game will be broadcast live on SNY and NBC Sports Philadelphia+ and on tape delay on NESN.
 
Saint Michael's went 2-1 against Southern New Hampshire during the regular season, winning 78-71 at home on Nov. 25 in a non-conference contest and 79-64 in Manchester, N.H., on Jan. 7. The Penmen took a 63-58 decision in Colchester on Feb. 4. Wednesday's meeting will be the teams' third postseason contest at the Ross Sports Center in the past three years, after facing off twice in March 2024. The fifth-seeded Penmen ousted No. 1 Saint Michael's in an NE10 semifinal en route to winning the league title that year before they squared off again in the NCAA East Regional Championship final, which the Purple Knights hosted as the top seed. The teams were separated by only two points with less than two minutes to go before the visitors pulled away for a 73-61 win. Southern New Hampshire leads the postseason series, 4-1.
 
Under seventh-year head coach Eric Eaton, the Purple Knights are 17-12 and were ranked seventh in last week's NCAA East Region poll, while the Penmen stand 15-13 and won their final four regular-season games to qualify for the championship on the final night of the regular season. Saint Michael's leads the NE10 in free throw percentage (79.7%) and made free throws per game (16.0) while taking third in three-pointers made per contest (8.2) and bench scoring (22.4). The Purple and Gold stands fifth nationally in free throw success rate.
 
Floyd leads the squad in scoring (12.3) and assists (3.0) from his point guard spot while adding 44 three-pointers and 40 steals, and Littleton notches 11.9 points, hit 55 triples at a 36.2% clip, and is 47-for-49 on free throws. Briscoe and sophomore Greg Kenney (Williston Park, N.Y./The Frederick Gunn School/LIU) turn in 10.9 and 10.1 points, respectively. Briscoe adds 4.5 rebounds, 47 assists and 31 steals, while Kenney leads the team in rebounding (5.8) and steals (49) while blocking 19 shots and shooting 84.8% on free throws.
 
Sophomore Raph Dumont (Quebec City, Quebec/Vanier College/Arkansas-Pine Bluff) averages 6.9 points on 84.6% free throw shooting in 13.0 minutes off the bench, and senior Nolan Marold (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Brewster Academy/Loyola Chicago) notches 6.2 points on 57.0% shooting with 3.8 boards and a team-high 21 blocks. First-year John Kelley (Plaistow, N.H./Kimball Union Academy) pulls 3.8 rebounds and shoots 53.7% as a reserve post, and sophomore Abdur-Rahman De Leon (Roxbury, Mass./Saint Thomas More School) shoots 40.0% from deep and nets 5.0 points off the bench.
 
The NE10's men's basketball championship has featured unpredictable match-ups over the years, as Wednesday's No. 6/No. 7 semifinal will be the league's second in three seasons. The top two seeds have only met in the title game once since 2005 - in 2018 - and a No. 1 seed has not won the crown since 2022, when the league was separated into two divisions.