COLCHESTER, Vt. - The sixth-seeded Saint Michael's College men's basketball team heads to No. 1 Saint Anselm College for the Northeast 10 Conference Championship title game on Saturday at 1 p.m. The Purple Knights seek their third NE10 postseason crown and first since 2001, when they last qualified for a championship game.
 
Saturday's game will be broadcast live on SNY and NBC Sports Philadelphia+ and on tape delay on NESN, with the winner earning an automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament. Tickets are $15 for adults, $13 for senior citizens, $10 for children, and free for students at NE10 schools with a valid ID. Visit here to purchase tickets.
 
After taking down host No. 3 Pace University, 54-48, in a first-round game on Saturday, the Purple Knights erased a late four-point deficit to force overtime on Wednesday en route to an 81-72 victory over No. 7 Southern New Hampshire University during a semifinal in the Ross Sports Center. First-year Quintin Floyd (Windsor, Conn./Choate Rosemary Hall) scored 11 of his team-high 22 points in overtime, and sophomore Greg Kenney (Williston Park, N.Y./The Frederick Gunn School/LIU) netted 17.
 
Saint Anselm took all three regular-season meetings, but both in Manchester, N.H., came by slim margins, 85-78 in overtime on Nov. 19 and 87-82 just last Tuesday. The Hawks lead the postseason series, 3-1, including capturing both meetings at home, as the teams last met in a 2015 NE10 semifinal in Stoutenburgh Gymnasium, won by Saint Anselm, 80-68. The Purple Knights' postseason victory over the Hawks came in the second round of the 1960 NCAA Tournament, 99-95, at Memorial Auditorium in Burlington. Since joining a league in 1985-86, Saint Michael's is 3-0 in conference tournament championship games, winning the Mideast Collegiate Conference in 1987 on Gannon University's home floor against Philadelphia University before claiming NE10 titles in 1999 and 2001, downing Assumption University and the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, respectively, at Ross Sports Center.
 
Under seventh-year head coach Eric Eaton, the Purple Knights are 18-12 and were ranked seventh in this week's NCAA East Region poll while seeking their second NCAA Tournament berth in three years. At 22-7, Saint Anselm received votes toward this week's National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) national poll and was third in the regional rankings. Saint Michael's leads the NE10 in free throw percentage (79.6%) and made free throws per game (16.0) while taking third in three-pointers made per contest (8.3), fewest turnovers per game (11.9) and bench scoring (22.5). The Purple and Gold stands fifth nationally in free throw success rate.
 
An NE10 All-Conference third team selection and NE10 All-Rookie Team pick, Floyd leads the squad in scoring (12.6) and assists (3.0) from his point guard spot while adding 46 three-pointers and 41 steals, and senior Zocko Littleton (Albany, Ga./Osborne/Rider) notches 11.8 points, hit 57 triples, and is 48-for-50 on free throws. Junior Latiek Briscoe Jr. (Brooklyn, N.Y./Saint Francis Prep/Saint Edward's) and Kenney turn in 10.7 and 10.3 points, respectively. Briscoe adds 4.6 rebounds, 47 assists and 33 steals, while Kenney leads the team in rebounding (5.8) and steals (52) while blocking 19 shots and shooting 84.7% on free throws.
 
Sophomore Raph Dumont (Quebec City, Quebec/Vanier College/Arkansas-Pine Bluff) averages 6.9 points on 85.0% free throw shooting in 13.2 minutes off the bench, and senior Nolan Marold (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Brewster Academy/Loyola Chicago) notches 6.0 points on 56.0% shooting with 3.9 boards and a team-high 24 blocks. First-year John Kelley (Plaistow, N.H./Kimball Union Academy) pulls 3.8 rebounds and shoots 54.4% 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.
 
Saint Michael's looks to become the first No. 6 seed to win the NE10 Championship since Southern New Hampshire in 2013, and just the seventh champion seeded sixth or lower since the NE10's first postseason in 1981. The Hawks seek their fourth NE10 crown since 2017. Aside from 2014-22, when the league was split between two divisions, no regular-season champion has also won an NE10 postseason title since Bentley University in 2008.