Albany, N.Y. – Sophomore forward Brian Zapisek (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) hit five free throws in the final 47 seconds of the game as the Le Moyne College men's basketball team held off a second-half rally by The College of Saint Rose for a 63-60 win in Northeast-10 Conference action at the Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium.

With the victory, the Dolphins pick up half of a point in the year-long "Upstate Challenge" between the two institutions. The Golden Knights now lead the "Upstate Challenge" 6.5 to 2.5 through 10 games. The other half of the point will be awarded to the winner of the January 31 meeting in Syracuse.

Zapisek registered 16 of his career and game-high 17 points in the second half, while adding four rebounds and a pair of steals. Sophomore guard Nate Champion (Logansport, Ind./Logansport) scored 13 points, all in the first half, grabbed five rebounds and dished out a pair of assists. Junior guard Derrek Tartt (Chicago, Ill./Oak Park Fenwick/UAlbany) was the third Dolphin in twin figures with a season-high 10 points, while pulling down five rebounds and recording three assists.

Andre Pope led the Golden Knights with 11 points as the only player in double-digits, while recording six rebounds and five assists. Anthony Robustiano and Jin Hong led the second-half rally with nine and eight points, respectively.

After the teams traded baskets over the opening seven minutes of the contest, resulting in a 10-9 lead for Saint Rose, the Dolphins scored seven straight points to take the lead for good. Senior guard Chris Johnson (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) started the run with a three-pointer followed by a pair of jumpers by Champion for a 16-10 lead with 11:28 left in the half.

The Golden Knights trimmed their deficit down to two with 10:20 remaining, but the Dolphins answered with five straight points on a lay-up by freshman Ryan Romich (Groton, Mass./Groton-Dunstable/Vermont Academy) and a conventional three-point play by Champion.

Following four straight free throws by Dominykas Milka to make the score 21-18, Le Moyne closed out the half with 12 of the final 16 points to go into the intermission leading 33-22. Champion had six points in the span, while Johnson and junior Gamal Mohamed (North Plainfield, N.J./Immaculata) each hit three-pointers.

The Dolphins scored the first six points of the second half to take a game-high 17-point lead with just over 16 minutes left. Zapisek had the first two baskets, while sophomore center Jim Janson">Jim Janson (Scotia, N.Y./Scotia-Glenville) followed with two free throws.

After the two teams split the game's next 18 points over the ensuing six minutes and six seconds, the Golden Knights mounted their comeback with 17 of the game's next 19 points. Sheldon Griffin started the run with a pair of free throws, Robustiano nailed a three-pointer and Hong made a jumper to cap Saint Rose's 7-0 spurt. Following a free throw by Tartt with 7:54 left to give the Dolphins a 49-38 advantage, Robustiano made another three-pointer, Hong had a lay-up, Pope knocked down a three-pointer and converted a fast-break lay-up off a steal at mid-court.

Zapisek scored Le Moyne's next four points on a fast-break dunk off an alley-oop by Tartt and a lay-up, while Travis Gill made two foul shots and Brian Hanuschak hit a jumper to pull the Golden Knights within 54-52 with 2:52 left.

Following a conventional three-point play by Tartt with two and one-half minutes left, Hanuschak converted a pair of foul shots and Gutierrez made a fast-break lay-up to get the Golden Knights within a point with 1:05 to go, but that's as close as they would get.

Zapisek hit four straight free throws to push Le Moyne's lead to 61-56 with 27 seconds left, but Pope countered with a lay-up 11 seconds later. Following one made free throw by Janson with 14 seconds left, Gutierrez scored Saint Rose's final points with a lay-up with four seconds remaining. Zapisek capped the scoring in the game by making the first of two free throw attempts with 3.3 left. Pope had a running half-court shot as time expired, but it caromed off the back of the rim.

Le Moyne (2-1, 1-1 NE-10), which won in Albany for the second time in four seasons after losing eight straight meetings, returns to action for its home opener on Sunday against Assumption at 3:00 p.m.