West Haven, Conn. – Senior guard Nate Champion (Logansport, Ind./Logansport) scored 20 points to lead the Le Moyne College men's basketball team to a 79-71 victory over the University of New Haven on Wednesday night in Northeast-10 Conference action at Charger Gymnasium.

Champion, who tallied 11 of his game-high point total in the second half, dished out eight assists and grabbed three rebounds. Graduate student center Jim Janson (Scotia, N.Y./Scotia-Glenville) scored 15 points on 7-of-8 shooting, while blocking a pair of shots. Freshman forward Stan Buczek (Port Jervis, N.Y./Burke Catholic) came off the bench to tally 14 points, including nine in the first. Sophomores Qwadere Lovell (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Vernon) and Connor Mahoney (Hanover, Mass./BC High/Brooks School) tallied 12 and 10 points, respectively, while Lovell had four rebounds and Mahoney handed out three assists. Junior forward Ryan Romich">Ryan Romich (Groton, Mass./Groton-Dunstable/Vermont Academy) led all players in the game with 11 rebounds, including four on the offensive end.

Justin Exum led the Chargers with 18 points, 10 of which came in the second half. Cyrus James posted 14 points and nine rebounds (six offensive), while Jemal Mosley came off the bench to score 12 points.

After the Chargers jumped out to an 8-5 lead over the opening 5:34, the Dolphins scored eight straight points to take the lead, which they would not relinquish. Mahoney started the run with a three-pointer, Janson followed with a conventional three-point play and then Romich made a lay-up to force a New Haven timeout.

New Haven, which was selected to win the Northeast-10 Conference Southwest Division in the conference's Preseason Coaches' Poll, countered with an 8-4 run, including four from James, to close within one point with 10:09 left in the half, but the Dolphins answered back with eight of the next 10 points over the next 2:50 to regain control of the contest. Champion, Buczek, Mahoney and Janson each had baskets in the span.

Following a 7-2 run by New Haven, during which Ashanti DePass had four points and Jonny Ocasio made three free throws, to cut its deficit to 27-25 with 4:52 remaining, Le Moyne scored seven straight points to take its largest lead of the half with 2:58 remaining. Buczek nailed a three-pointer and then made a lay-up and then Champion converted a fast-break lay-up.

The teams traded points over the last 2:42 of the half as the Dolphins took a 38-31 lead into the intermission.

After New Haven started the second half with the first three points on a conventional three-point play by Mosley, the Dolphins rattled off 12 of the next 16 points for their biggest lead of the game. Lovell hit back-to-back three-pointers, Champion followed with a basket from three-point range and then Mahoney drilled a three-pointer.

New Haven responded with a 10-4 run to cut its deficit in half, but the Dolphins tallied five straight points to push their lead back into double digits. Exum started New Haven's spurt with a three-pointer, Eric Anderson followed with five points and then James had a put-back dunk, while Buczek made a lay-up and Lovell buried a three-pointer in Le Moyne's countering spurt.

The Chargers put together one final run (10-3), but could only cut their deficit to four points. James and Ocasio each had four in the streak, while Exum had the other two.

After each team scored two points over the next one and one-half minutes, Le Moyne put the game away with an 8-2 run. Champion had a pair of lay-ups, Romich made a lay-up and then Janson capped the run with a lay-up to beat the shot clock with 2:17 remaining.

The Dolphins went 7-for-8 from the foul line over the last 59 seconds around three New Haven three-pointers to close out the game.

Le Moyne (2-1, 1-0 NE-10), which won at New Haven for the first time since November 29, 2009, returns to action on Saturday at The College of Saint Rose at 3:30 p.m.