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Purple Knights Fall Short of Le Moyne, 70-64

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Created on Sunday, 29 January 2012 01:53

Written by George Commo

St. Mike's now 7-12 overall and 6-9 in the Northeast 10

Courtesy St. Michael's Sports Information

COLCHESTER - Behind the play of its freshmen, the Saint Michael's College men's basketball team trimmed a late seven-point deficit to one with 1:24 remaining during an eventual 70-64 loss against Le Moyne College on Saturday in the Ross Sports Center.

Both teams entered the day in a six-way tie for ninth place in the Northeast-10 Conference. The Purple Knights are now 7-12 overall and 6-9 in the league, and the Dolphins are 11-8 and 7-8. Eight of the hosts' losses have been by six points or less, while Le Moyne has won eight of its past 11 contests.

During its only home game between Jan. 18 and Feb. 7, Saint Michael's received a breakout performance by freshman James Cambronne (De Bary, Fla./The Winchendon School), who was 8-of-8 from the floor while setting season highs with 19 points and five blocks, and matching season bests with six rebounds and two steals, all in 26 minutes as a reserve.

Classmate Corey Crawford (Dover, Del./The Phelps School) shot 4-of-6 from three-point range en route to totaling 16 points, six boards and five assists, while sophomore Mike Holton Jr. (Portland, Ore./The Winchendon School) went 9-of-10 on free throws and collected 12 points.

Sophomore Brian Zapisek (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) paced Le Moyne with 20 points and 11 rebounds, hitting four threes, while classmate Nate Champion (Logansport, Ind./Logansport) notched 21 points and five helpers. Sophomore Jim Janson (Scotia, N.Y./Scotia-Glenville) added 12 points. The Dolphins were aided by a 9-of-18 showing from beyond the arc.

After a Zapisek hoop gave the visitors a 62-55 advantage with 5:02 remaining, Holton made four straight free throws, with the first pair set up by a Cambronne block. Cambronne then tipped in a miss at 1:24 to bring his squad within 62-61, but the Purple Knights turned the ball over with 46 seconds left while down three. Le Moyne added six more freebies, capping an 8-of-8 stretch at the charity stripe in the final 1:03.

The Purple Knights fell behind early by a 10-3 count before closing the gap to 14-11 on a Cambronne hoop, but the Dolphins stretched their advantage to 23-15. Freshmen played a major role in the ensuing 11-0 run for the hosts, during which they scored the initial seven points in 46 seconds. Crawford scored five points and also assisted freshman Mike Thompson's (Rosedale, N.Y./Christ The King) jumper before Thompson added another bucket and dished off on the first of consecutive Cambronne baskets.

A Cambronne jumper at 1:08 of the opening half has his team up by a 33-28 count, but Le Moyne knotted the contest at 33 by halftime and scored the first bucket of the second stanza to end a 7-0 stretch. Zapisek later hit a triple to make it 44-37, but freshmen accounted for every point of the Purple Knights' go-ahead 9-0 run, with Cambronne scoring four and Crawford hitting two freebies at 13:21 to produce a 46-44 margin. However, Champion countered with a three-pointer 23 seconds later, and Le Moyne nabbed the lead for good.

The Purple Knights hit the road on Tuesday, heading to the University of Massachusetts at Lowell for a 7:30 p.m. contest.