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Men's Hoop: Saint Rose Beats Buzzer for 71-68 Victory Over St. Michael's

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Created on Sunday, 22 January 2012 04:08

Written by George Commo

St. Rose hits a tie-breaking three-pointer with three seconds left

Courtesy St. Michael's Sports Information

ALBANY, N.Y. - Senior Sheldon Griffin (Pittsburgh, Pa./Warwick) hit a tie-breaking three-pointer with three seconds left, lifting the College of Saint Rose men's basketball team over Saint Michael's College, 71-68, on Saturday in Nolan Gymnasium. The Purple Knights have lost six games by six points or less, as they stand 7-10 overall and 6-7 in the Northeast-10 Conference, while the Golden Knights are 3-14 and 3-10.

Sophomore Mike Holton Jr. (Portland, Ore./The Winchendon School) went 10-for-10 on free throws while scoring a game-high 23 points, and freshman Corey Crawford (Dover, Del./The Phelps School) totaled 16 points and three assists. Classmates James Cambronne (De Bary, Fla./The Winchendon School) and Dom Ditlefsen (Portland, Ore./Sunset) notched nine points apiece, with Cambronne adding six rebounds and four blocks. In a tightly-grouped NE-10, the Purple Knights are in a six-way tie for seventh place.

Senior Rob Gutierrez (Brooklyn, N.Y./John Adams) netted 21 points for Saint Rose, hitting all nine free throw tries, while Griffin recorded 16 points and seven rebounds. Sophomore Kareem Thomas (Queens, N.Y./Christ The King) had 12 points and four steals.

After Thomas hit a freebie with 25 seconds left to forge a 68-66 lead for Saint Rose, Crawford rebounded a miss of the second before being fouled. The freshman buried two free throws to knot the game with 24 ticks left, but Griffin hit his winning three with three seconds to go, and Saint Michael's could not get an ensuing shot away.

The teams stayed close during the opening stanza, as neither led by more than three points between 15:47 and 5:33, with the Golden Knights eventually extending their advantage to 33-24 on Gutierrez's lay-up with 10 seconds left. The Purple Knights trailed 33-27 at the half.

Saint Rose pushed its lead back out to nine, at 36-27, before the visitors slowly rallied by scoring 24 of the next 38 points, with Ditlefsen nailing a go-ahead three-pointer at 10:06. The Purple Knights led 51-50, but the hosts knotted the game 41 seconds later and took the lead back on Griffin's jumper at 8:41.

Saint Michael's trailed by five with a little more than two minutes remaining, but Holton nailed a three at 2:16, and Cambronne dropped home a tying jumper at 1:46. The Golden Knights' next two points came on free throws, setting up Crawford's critical freebies.

The Purple Knights head to Assumption College on Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m. contest.