Syracuse, N.Y. - Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year
Laurence Ekperigin (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter
Panas) scored a game-high 17, grabbed 12 rebounds and
blocked five shots to lead the sixth-seeded Le Moyne College men's
basketball team to a 61-55 win over seventh-seeded Southern New
Hampshire University on Thursday night in the semifinals of the
Northeast-10 tournament at Ted Grant Court. Le Moyne earns its
second appearance in the Northeast-10 Championship game with the
victory and will take on fifth-seeded
Assumption College on Saturday afternoon at Laska Gym at 2:00
p.m. The Greyhounds swept the two-game season series with the
Dolphins.
Ekperigin, a 6-foot, 7-inch junior forward, posted 10 points and
10 rebounds in the first half to register his East Region-best 21st
double-double of the season. With the performance, Ekperigin moved
up to second-place on the program's single-season rebounding and
blocked shots charts with 346 rebounds and 77 blocks, respectively.
Ekperigin, who has scored 555 points in 30 games this season, has
recorded the most points in a season by a Dolphin since Adam
Stockwell '96 recorded 633 in the 1995-96 season. Freshman guard
James Cormier (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull/Proctor Academy
(N.H.)) recorded 13 points, including foul shots in the
final minute. Backcourt mate Damani Corbin (Brooklyn,
N.Y./Frederick Douglass) added 10 points and a game-high
seven assists. Senior swingman Phil Barnes (Georgetown,
Cayman Islands/Clinton C.C.) tied Ekperigin for team-high
honors with 12 rebounds, while scoring four points and blocking
four shots. Redshirt freshman Tory Stapleton led the Penman with 14
points, while Stephen Wood tallied 11 points and a game-best 15
rebounds and Josh Morgan-Green recorded 10 points off the
bench.
Southern New Hampshire opened the second half with a 7-4 run to
pull within four points (28-24) with 13:45 to go in the contest,
but could not get any closer the rest of the game. Wood ignited the
run with a fast-break layup at the 18:17 mark. The Dolphins
answered back with a 20-11 streak to take a game-best 13 point lead
with 6:09 remaining. Cormier drilled a pair of three-pointers in
the span, while Ekperigin tallied three layups.
The Penman responded with a 15-6 outburst over the ensuing five
minutes to pull within four points. Wood and Stapleton each tallied
four points in the span for the Penman. Cormier pushed the Le Moyne
lead back to six points on two occasions by hitting four foul shots
around a jumper by Lucas Croteau. Ekperigin swatted away a layup
attempt by Marcus Matthews and a jumper by Wood in the final 30
seconds to secure the victory.
After Ekperigin opened the game with a put-back layup and Wood
followed by drilling a three-pointer from the top of the key to
give the Penman their only lead of the contest, the Dolphins
rattled off five straight points to take the for good. Corbin made
a basket in the paint and Cormier drilled a three-pointer from the
left wing.
The Dolphins pushed their lead out to eight points on two
occasions in the opening 14 minutes of play before taking a
half-best nine point lead at the 3:47. Reserve freshman guard
Chris Johnson (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) hit
a jumper just inside the three-point line with 10:43 remaining to
give Le Moyne a 13-5 lead, while Ekperigin followed a 5-0 spurt by
SNHU with a jumper at the 5:55 mark to push the lead back to eight
at 18-10. Corbin split a pair of foul shots with 3:47 remaining to
give Le Moyne a 19-10 edge. The Penman closed the half on a 7-5
spurt to go into intermission trailing 24-17.
Le Moyne (20-10), which recorded its first 20-win season since the
1997-98 campaign and just the sixth in the program's 61-year
history, has won 11 consecutive games and 13 of its last 14
contests. The Dolphins' last loss (90-79) came at the hands of the
Greyhounds on January 24th at Laska Gym.
-agate-
Le Moyne 61,
Southern New Hampshire 55
Southern New Hampshire
(18-12)
17
38
-
55
Le Moyne
(20-10)
24
37
-
61
