Springfield, Mass. – Sesoo Ikpah converted a four-point play to force overtime and made seven free throws in the overtime session to lead American International to a 65-60 win over the Le Moyne College men's basketball team on Wednesday night at Butova Gymnasium.

After not recording a point over the first 39 minutes and 43 seconds, Ikpah finished the game with 11 points, while adding four rebounds and three assists. Janek Schmidkunz led all scorers in the game with 19 points, while Spencer Braithwaite added 15 points.

Sophomore guard Chris Secky (Bemus Point, N.Y./Maple Grove) came off the bench in the second half to score a career-high 12 points, dish out a career-best four assists and grab a career-high three rebounds. Sophomore center Jim Janson (Scotia, N.Y./Scotia-Glenville) led the Dolphins in scoring with 18 points, including 12 in the second half, while pulling down six rebounds. Sophomore guard Nate Champion (Logansport, Ind./Logansport) was the third Dolphin in double digits with 11 points, nine of which came after halftime.

After the teams split the first 12 points of the game, the Yellow Jackets scored 11 straight points. Braithwaite started the run with a conventional three-point play and a three-pointer, Schmidkunz followed with his second three-pointer of the first eight minutes and Anthony Thomas capped the spurt with a lay-up.

Following a lay-up by Janson to end a scoreless drought of 6:06 by the Dolphins, AIC scored tallied nine straight points to take a 26-8 lead with 1:20 remaining in the stanza. Braithwaite made a jumper, Schmidkunz buried another three-pointer, Jason Perrier nailed a three-pointer and Thomas made a free throw.

Janson ended another scoreless drought of 7:45 by the Dolphins with a lay-up with 43 seconds left to close out the scoring in the half.

After Schmidkunz drilled a three-pointer 26 seconds into the second half to extend his team's lead to a game-high 19 points (29-10), the Dolphins scored seven straight points to cut their deficit to 12. Janson had a lay-up, Champion connected on a three-pointer and Janson followed with another lay-up.

However, the Yellow Jackets scored five straight points and eight of the next 11 points for a 17-point advantage with 12:51 remaining in regulation. Brennan Cooper registered a conventional three-point play, David Campbell made a lay-up and then D.J. Gutridge answered a Chris Johnson (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) three-pointer with one of his own. Johnson's three-pointer gave him 290 for his career and moved him into second place on the program's all-time three-pointers made list.

Following an AIC turnover with 12:17 left, Secky was inserted into the game and sparked a 26-4 run by the Dolphins. He fed Janson for a lay-up on his first offensive possession and followed with a defensive rebound, which led to a Janson dunk. After Janson made a pair of free throws to get the Dolphins within 37-26, Secky made a fast-break lay-up after a steal by junior guard Gamal Mohamed (North Plainfield, N.J./Immaculata). He then fed Mohamed for a jumper and Champion followed with a fast-break lay-up to cap a 12-0 Le Moyne run.

After Braithwaite made a jumper to push AIC's lead back to seven, Secky drilled a three-pointer off a kick-out by Janson. Campbell answered with a lay-up for the Yellow Jackets, but Janson followed with a lay-up, Secky knocked down a jumper and then drilled a pull-up three-pointer in transition from just left of the top of the key for the lead with 3:24 left. Mohamed extended Le Moyne's lead to three with a steal and a lay-up and freshman forward Ryan Romich (Groton, Mass./Groton-Dunstable/Vermont Academy) pushed it to five by finishing off a pass from Secky.

Schmidkunz made one of three free throws on AIC's next possession and Braithwaite followed with a jumper off a steal to get the Yellow Jackets within two with 58 seconds left. Champion pushed Le Moyne's lead back to four with a jumper in the paint with 29 seconds left.

Off an in-bounds pass following an offensive rebound, Ikpah drilled a three-pointer from the left corner with 16.6 seconds left and was fouled. He converted the ensuing free throw to knot the game at 48 apiece. Le Moyne was unable to get a shot off before regulation ended.

After Thomas made a free throw to open the scoring in overtime, Secky had a tip-in and Janson made a lay-up off a pass from Secky to give the Dolphins a three point lead with 2:59 left. Schmidkunz followed with back-to-back three-pointers around a Le Moyne miss to give his team the lead with 1:59 to go. Sophomore forward Brian Zapisek">Brian Zapisek (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) banked in a three-pointer to tie the game at 55 with 1:40 left.

The Yellow Jackets then scored seven straight points to take control of the game. Braithwaite made a lay-up with 1:18 to give AIC the lead and followed with a free throw 28 seconds later. Ikpah followed with four straight free throws in a span of 13 seconds. Johnson buried a three-pointer to get the Dolphins within 62-58 with 17 seconds to go, but Ikpah followed with a free throw one second later. Champion countered with a driving lay-up with 10 seconds to go, but that would be Le Moyne's last basket. Ikpah closed out the game's scoring with a pair of free throws with eight seconds left.

Le Moyne (11-11, 7-11 NE-10), which has dropped three overtime games this season, returns home to face New Haven on Saturday at 3:00 p.m.