Articles

Purple Knights Drop Season Opener 70-64 to Queens

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Created on Sunday, 13 November 2011 00:29

Written by George Commo

Lead Gets Away in Last Five Minutes

Courtesy St. Michael's Sports information

COLCHESTER - The Saint Michael's College men's basketball team led Queens (N.Y.) College with fewer than five minutes remaining on Saturday before opening its season with a 70-64 setback in the Ross Sports Center. It was also the opener for the visiting Knights.

Sophomore Mike Holton Jr. (Portland, Ore./The Winchendon School) tallied 22 points on 4-of-8 three-point shooting for Saint Michael's, adding six rebounds and four assists. Freshmen James Cambronne (De Bary, Fla./The Winchendon School) and Dom Ditlefsen (Portland, Ore./Sunset) each went for double figures in their college debuts, with Ditlefsen scoring 12 points and Cambronne adding 11 in addition to blocking two shots. Classmate Corey Crawford (Dover, Del./The Phelps School) tacked on nine points.

Sophomore Jeremiah Mordi (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley Stream Central) paced Queens with 21 points, while senior Khalil McDonald (Queens Village, N.Y./Campus Magnet) finished with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. Freshman Abe Akanmu (Staten Island, N.Y./Xaverian) dished out six assists from the bench while snagging seven boards.

The hosts led by a 62-58 count with 5:22 remaining after Ditlefsen turned a steal into a breakaway hoop, but the visitors scored the next seven points to take the lead for good, with Akanmu's lay-up at 4:10 shifting the score in Queens' favor. Saint Michael's was down 65-63 before firing off back-to-back tying tries with less than 25 seconds to go, but both were off the mark, and the Knights went 5-of-6 on free throws over the last 20 ticks.

Behind accurate shooting - the visitors hit 14 of their first 20 shots for a 70-percent clip - Queens forged an 18-11 lead less than seven minutes into the contest. Mordi knocked down a quartet of jumpers in that time, including a personal 6-0 run, that broke open a 10-7 game. The Purple Knights countered with a 15-2 run, forcing five turnovers while shooting 5-of-7. Freshmen scored 12 of the points, with Ditlefsen canning a pair of three-pointers and Cambronne adding four points, including forcing a takeaway and rushing to the other end for a lay-in. First-year Mike Thompson's (Rosedale, N.Y./Christ The King) jumper at 8:20 made the score 26-20.

After still trailing by six, at 29-23, the Knights scored 12 of the game's ensuing 15 points, pushing back ahead at 35-32 by 3:16 on junior Daniel Watson's (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Vernon) triple. Watson collected eight points in the run. The Purple Knights had a good look for a go-ahead three-pointer at the buzzer that was offline, and Queens took a 37-36 edge into the locker room.

The lead swung between teams six times in the second half, as a Cambronne three at 15:17 capped a 6-0 run that put the hosts on top, 50-45, before a Mordi jumper tied the teams at 54. Saint Michael's scored the next six points, with two Holton free throws making it 60-54 by 7:23 before Queens finished off the game with a 16-4 run.

The Purple Knights head into Northeast-10 Conference play on Wednesday at Southern New Hampshire University at 7:30 p.m.