MANCHESTER, N.H. - The sixth-seeded Saint Michael's College men's basketball team lost to No. 1 Saint Anselm College, 75-69, on Saturday during the Northeast 10 Conference Championship title game in Stoutenburgh Gymnasium. The Purple Knights, who were seventh in the latest NCAA East Region rankings, now await a potential at-large berth into their second NCAA Tournament in three years. The NCAA selection show is Sunday at 11 p.m. The game was broadcast live on SNY and NBC Sports Philadelphia+ and will re-air on SNY, NESN and NESN+.
 
The Hawks, who won their fifth title since 2017 - and 11th overall - to claim the league's automatic qualifier for the NCAA Tournament, were No. 3 in the region and received votes toward the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) national poll.
 
Following the game, sophomore Greg Kenney (Williston Park, N.Y./The Frederick Gunn School/LIU) and first-year Quintin Floyd (Windsor, Conn./Choate Rosemary Hall) were named to the NE10 Championship All-Championship Team, and senior Nolan Marold (Highlands Ranch, Colo./Brewster Academy/Loyola Chicago) earned the NE10 Elite 24 Award as the top scholar-athlete competing in the final.
 
RECORDS

• Saint Michael's (18-13), Saint Anselm (23-7)

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Kenney, 19 points, 10 rebounds (3 offensive), 3 steals, 7-for-15 field goals
• Floyd, 15 points, 6 rebounds
• Senior Zocko Littleton (Albany, Ga./Osborne/Rider), 11 points, 4-for-8 field goals
• Marold, 8 points, 5 rebounds, 4-for-4 free throws
• Junior Latiek Briscoe Jr. (Brooklyn, N.Y./Saint Francis Prep/Saint Edward's), 7 points, 7 rebounds, 4 steals

OPPONENT LEADERS

• Senior Josh Morissette, 28 points, 6-for-11 three-pointers
• Sophomore Will Davies, 17 points, 7 assists, 8-for-16 field goals
• Redshirt sophomore Jovan Ristic, 16 points, 9 rebounds
• First-year Edward Onyia, 8 points, 8 rebounds

GAME FACTS

• The Purple Knights had been 3-0 all-time in conference tournament finals but had never played a true road game as the league title contest.
• Saint Michael's previously qualified for 1999 and 2001 NE10 title games and the 1987 Mideast Collegiate Conference (MECC) final.

THE ACTION

• Kenney buried a three with 37 seconds gone that pushed the lead to 5-0, and his jumper at 17:33 of the first half still had Saint Michael's up 9-4 before sophomore Paulius Rapolis tied the game on a dunk at 16:46.
• Five straight points from Kenney provided the Purple Knights a 16-12 lead at 14:39, but the Hawks used a Morrisette triple and tough Davies lay-in to go back up at 21-20 by 11:43.
• Briscoe (10:20) and Littleton (9:06) knocked down back-to-back threes before Marold's lay-in through contact put Saint Michael's ahead by a 28-21 count, at which point the visitors were shooting 11-of-21 overall and 4-of-6 from deep.
• Davies knocked down consecutive jumpers before his baseline lay-in cut the deficit to a single point, and Morissette hit a triple at 4:42 to tie the game (30-30).
• Floyd canned a three 18 second later, Littleton converted a four-point play at 3:59, and first-year John Kelley's (Plaistow, N.H./Kimball Union Academy) lay-in with 2:39 to go made it 42-34, providing the visitors their first of two eight-point leads. The Purple Knights carried a 44-36 advantage into halftime.
• Saint Michael's shot 50.0% from the floor and 7-of-11 (63.6%) from beyond the arc after entering the game averaging 8.3 made threes per game. In contrast, the Hawks shot 4-of-15 (26.7%) from deep after coming into the contest leading the league with 9.1 made three per game on 36.1% shooting, good for second in the NE10.
• Saint Anselm slowly chipped away at its deficit, finally climbing back in front at 12:49 of the second stanza on redshirt sophomore Isaiah Griffin's lay-up, 51-50.
• Floyd countered with a go-ahead lay-up 15 seconds later, but Ristic's basket at 11:34 gave his team the final lead, sparking a 15-2 run that Morissette highlighted with a pair of threes. The Hawks led 68-54 after his triple at 5:01.
• After Morissette buried a three at 3:14 to give the Hawks a 71-58 lead, the Purple Knights scored the next eight points to draw within five on Floyd's pair of freebies with 46 seconds left, and junior TJ Henaghen's (Hampden, Maine/Williston Northampton School) putback at 12 seconds had his team within 73-69.
• However, Morissette made two free throws at seven ticks, and the visitors missed their final shot.