Syracuse, N.Y. – The backcourt duo of senior Nate Gause (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Poughkeepsie/Quinnipiac) and junior Qwadere Lovell (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Vernon) combined for 43 points to lead the Le Moyne College men's basketball team to a 70-66 come-from-behind victory over Queens College on Tuesday night in non-conference action at Ted Grant Court.

Gause finished the contest with a game high-tying 22 points, 16 of which he scored in the second half, while adding a game best-tying nine rebounds and five steals. Lovell registered 21 points, including nine over the final four minutes, while dishing out four assists and recording two steals. Junior forward Connor Mahoney (Hanover, Mass./BC High/Brooks School) was the third Dolphin in double figures with 12 points, while adding six rebounds. Sophomore forward Stan Buczek (Port Jervis, N.Y./Burke Catholic) tied Gause for the most rebounds in the game with nine to go along with nine points.

Anthony Hodges led the Knights in the loss with 22 points, including 16 after halftime, while grabbing five rebounds and dishing out three assists. Jeremiah Mordi tallied 15 points and four rebounds, while Kyhiem Chaplin had 12 points, four rebounds and four steals.

The Dolphins opened the game with the first seven points, including four in the first 37 seconds to force a Queens timeout. Gause had steals on the first two possessions by the Knights, which led to fast-break lay-ups by Lovell and Gause.

The Knights responded with a 16-6 run to take the lead. Paul Little had a three-pointer and a lay-up, Chaplin buried a three-pointer and then Mordi converted two free throws and a pair of three-pointers.

After the Dolphins tied the score at 21 on a three-pointer by freshman guard Tanner Hyland (South Portland, N.Y./South Portland/Bridgton Academy) with 10:55 left, Queens rattled off nine straight points and 11 of the next 12 to open up its first double-digit lead of the game. Chaplin had six of the points, Mordi had three and Mohamed Dansoko added a tip-in.

Following a stretch of 7:52 without a basket for the Dolphins, Lovell registered a conventional three-point play to start a 5-0 run to trim Le Moyne's deficit in half.

The Knights answered with a 9-2 spurt to close out the half and take a 41-29 lead into the intermission. Keith Williams buried a pair of three-pointers over the final 2:30 around a trifecta by Hodges.

After Gause hit a three-pointer and Mordi made a jumper to start the second half, then Dolphins registered 12 of the next 14 points to get within a point with 11:31 left. Lovell started the run with a free throw, Mahoney recorded a conventional three-point play, Gause drilled consecutive three-pointers and then Buczek finished off a feed from Lovell to make the score 45-44.

Following a Mordi jumper to put the Knights back up by three, Buczek nailed a three-pointer from the top of the key to even the score at 49 with 8:28 to play.

Chaplin answered with a three-pointer and then Hodges buried another one 51 seconds later to give Queens a six-point advantage again.

Following a Hodges jumper to give the Knights a 60-56 lead with 4:14 to play, Lovell scored five straight points in 22 seconds to give the Dolphins their first lead since 18-16 at the 12:09 mark of the first half.

After Hodges converted his third three-pointer of the stanza to give the lead back to the Knights with 2:52 to go, the Dolphins registered nine straight points to take the lead for good. Gause started the run with a three-pointer with 2:22 to play, Lovell made back-to-back mid-range jump shots and then Mahoney finished off the team's scoring with two free throws with 4.9 seconds left.

Le Moyne (11-3), which is off to its best start since the 1995-96 season, returns to Northeast-10 Conference action on Saturday afternoon against Saint Michael's College at 2:00 p.m.