Springfield, Mass. – Four players scored at least 18 points to lead the Le Moyne College men's basketball team to an 85-72 win over American International College on Wednesday night in Northeast-10 Conference action at Butova Gymnasium.

Junior guard Qwadere Lovell (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Vernon) led the Dolphins with 22 points, 13 of which came after halftime, and dished out six assists. Senior forward Ryan Romich (Groton, Mass./Groton-Dunstable/Vermont Academy) posted 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds for his second double-double of the season. Junior forward Connor Mahoney (Hanover, Mass./BC High/Brooks School) registered 19 points, while senior guard Nate Gause (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie/Quinnipiac) tallied 18 points and seven rebounds.

Marcus Porter led the Yellow Jackets with a game-high 28 points, 16 of which came in the first half, while grabbing seven rebounds. Cameron Dobbs tallied 14 points and four steals, while Al-Shabazz Jabateh registered 12 points off the bench.

After the teams split the first 16 points of the game, the Dolphins scored five straight points to take their first five-point lead of the game. Romich finished off a feed from Lovell and then freshman guard Tanner Hyland (South Portland, Maine/South Portland/Bridgton Academy) nailed a three-pointer from the right wing for his first collegiate points with 13:38 left in the first half.

The Yellow Jackets closed within one on a pair of Porter three-pointers around two Mahoney free throws before Hyland buried a three-pointer from the right corner and Gause made a jumper for a 20-14 advantage with 9:36 left.

The teams alternated points over the next three and one-half minutes with Le Moyne's lead bouncing between two and five points and resulting in a 31-27 edge. Mahoney then hit a three-pointer and Romich made consecutive lay-ups after a Porter jumper to push the lead to 38-29 with 4:05 remaining.

American International closed within 38-34 on a free throw by Oscar Assie, a lay-up by Jabateh and two free throws by D.J. Gutridge, but Le Moyne answered with the next six points to take a double-digit lead. Romich made a lay-up, Mahoney converted a foul shot and then Gause drilled a three-pointer with 1:02 left for a 44-34 lead.

Porter hit a jumper with 41 seconds left to get the Yellow Jackets within eight at the intermission.

As in the first half, the teams split the opening 16 points of the second half. Gause then posted five points in a span of 1:44 to push Le Moyne's lead to 13 for the first time.

The Yellow Jackets responded with an 8-2 run to cut their deficit to seven with 8:30 remaining. Jabateh had consecutive lay-ups, Dobbs made a fast-break lay-up and then Trahmier Burrell had a put-back lay-up.

Following seven points from each team over the next 2:35, the Dolphins got a three-point play from Gause and a jumper by Lovell to regain their double-digit lead.

After a Porter lay-up got the Yellow Jackets within single digits with 3:39 left, the Dolphins went 10-of-12 at the foul line around a Lovell lay-up to put the game away.

Le Moyne (7-1, 3-0 NE-10), which has won seven of its first eight games for the first time since the 1965-66 season and has won its first three conference games since the 1990-91 season (the final year as a member of the Mideast Conference), returns to action on Saturday at Pace University at 3:30 p.m.