Erie, Pa. – Junior forward Connor Mahoney (Hanover, Mass./BC High/Brooks School) nailed a go-ahead three-pointer with 31 seconds left to lift the Le Moyne College men's basketball team to a 47-45 win over Gannon University on Friday night on the first day of the Gannon's 31st Annual Gary Miller Classic at the Hammermill Center.

The win is Le Moyne's first when scoring in the 40s since a 46-40 victory at Franklin Pierce on January 16, 2007 (0-3 in between wins) and just the second since the 1962-63 season. In fact, it is Le Moyne's first win when scoring less than 60 points since a 58-54 win at Bentley University on January 22, 2011.

Mahoney finished the contest with 13 points, while grabbing three rebounds and blocking two shots. Senior guard Nate Gause (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie/Quinnipiac) led all scorers with 14 points, grabbed nine rebounds and posted four steals. Junior guard Qwadere Lovell (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Vernon) tallied six points, six rebounds and six assists in all 40 minutes of action.

Gannon, which lost on the first day of the Gary Miller Classic for just the sixth time in the 31 years of the event, has been topped by the Dolphins on the first day each of the last two seasons. The Golden Knights fall to 88-15 in its last 103 non-conference home games, with two of those 15 losses coming against Le Moyne. The Golden Knights put three players in double digits, led by 14 points from Girbran Smith. Raphell Thomas-Edwards posted a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds, while recording six steals. Adam Blazek registered 10 points, four rebounds, four assists and three steals.

The Golden Knights jumped out to a 5-0 lead over the opening two and one-half minutes on a three-pointer by Smith and a put-back lay-up by Matthew Dogan.

Le Moyne answered back with five straight points and 19 of the next 27 points to take its largest lead of the game with 4:03 left in the opening half. Mahoney scored six of the first 10 points on a pair of three-pointers, while sophomore forward Stan Buczek (Port Jervis, N.Y./Burke Catholic) started the scoring with a lay-up as part of five points in the span and Lovell capped the run with a lay-up after the two teams went scoreless for 2:55.

Gannon countered with seven straight points over 2:10 to regain the lead. Isaiah Eisendorf started the spurt with a jumper, Thomas-Edwards followed with a lay-up and then Blazek knocked down a three-pointer.

Gause responded with a three-pointer and Lovell followed a Thomas-Edwards free throw with a jumper as the first half expired to give the Dolphins a 24-21 lead at the intermission.

Senior forward Ryan Romich (Groton, Mass./Groton-Dunstable/Vermont Academy) made a lay-up and Gause hit a jumper in the paint around a Thomas-Edwards free throw to push Le Moyne's lead back to six just 2:11 into the second half.

The Golden Knights answered with seven of the next eight points to tie the score for the fourth time. Blazek ignited the run with a fast-break lay-up off a steal by Thomas-Edwards and then hit a three-pointer 51 seconds later. Off another steal, Thomas-Edwards knotted the score with a fast-break lay-up of his own with 15:40 remaining.

The teams then went back-and-forth over the next 2:49, resulting in ties at 31, 33 and 35.

After Buczek made a free throw with 11:07 left for a 36-35 advantage, Gannon took its first lead of the half with 10:06 to go on a fast-break lay-up by Dogan. Smith pushed his team's lead to three with a jumper 1:12 later.

Le Moyne responded with seven straight points over the next 4:53 to take a 43-39 lead with 3:32 remaining in the contest. Mahoney started the run with a free throw and Gause followed by making a pair of free throws 44 seconds later to tie the score at 39 with 7:41 left. Mahoney gave the Dolphins the lead back 29 seconds later with a lay-up and Lovell ended a scoreless span of 3:40 with a jumper in the paint to cap the stretch.

After being held scoreless for 7:28, the Golden Knights got a pair of three-pointers from Smith in a span of 28 seconds to take a 45-43 lead with 47 seconds remaining.

Gannon's lead last just 16 seconds as Mahoney gave the edge back to the Dolphins with 31 seconds left after taking a feed from Gause. After Blazek missed a three-pointer with four seconds left, Mahoney drew a foul with 2.9 seconds left and buried the first of two foul shots to put the Dolphins up two. Blazek had an attempt for the win from mid-court as time expired, but it was off the mark.

Le Moyne (5-1), which has won five of its first six games for the first time since the 2002-03 season, completes play at the Gary Miller Classic on Saturday against Slippery Rock University at 5:30 p.m.