Syracuse, N.Y. – Sophomore guard Tanner Hyland (South Portland, Maine/South Portland/Bridgton Academy) gave the Le Moyne College men's basketball team the lead for good with a three-pointer with 3:21 left as the Dolphins defeated The College of Saint Rose, 68-58, on Wednesday night in Northeast-10 Conference action at Ted Grant Court.

With the victory, Le Moyne takes a 5.5-4.5 lead over the Golden Knights in the year-long "Upstate Challenge" between the two institutions. The second half of the men's basketball point will be decided in Albany on February 3. In each of the first four years of the "Upstate Challenge", the men's basketball point has been split.
 
Junior guard Tyquan Rolon (Syracuse, N.Y./Nottingham/Mohawk Valley C.C.) led four Dolphins in double figures with a season-best 23 points, eight rebounds, four assists and four steals. Sophomore forward Daniel Kaigler (Syracuse, N.Y./Bishop Ludden/Gannon) registered 13 points and seven rebounds off the bench. Junior forward Stan Buczek (Port Jervis, N.Y./Burke Catholic) recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds in his first start of the season, while Hyland finished the game with 10 second-half points.

Tyler Sayre led the Golden Knights in the loss with 14 points, 12 of which came in the first half, while adding six rebounds. Pharroh Gordon was the only other player in double digits with 12 points, while adding a team-high eight rebounds.

After the teams split the first eight points of the game, the Dolphins scored six straight points. Sophomore guard Russell Sangster (Rockville, Md./Bullis School) scored the first two and then Rolon followed with back-to-back lay-ups.

Following a tip-in by Buczek to give the Dolphins a 12-6 lead, the Golden Knights scored 11 straight points to take their largest lead of the half. Gordon had the first seven points before Jack Jones and Max Weaver each scored two points.

The Dolphins countered with a 7-2 run to knot the score at 19 apiece with 5:39 remaining. Senior guard Qwadere Lovell (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Vernon) scored the first three and Kaigler and Rolon followed with two free throws each.

Saint Rose regained the lead with back-to-back jumpers before the teams traded points over a span of one and one-half minutes. The Golden Knights pushed their advantage up to five with 16 seconds left in the half, but Sangster made one foul shot with seven seconds to go to pull Le Moyne within 31-27 at halftime.

Following four points by the Dolphins to open the second half and tie the score at 31, Saint Rose scored eight of the next 10 to take its largest lead of the game with 14:47 left. Julian Lipinski accounted for six of the points, while Sayre made two free throws.

Le Moyne answered with 12 of the next 16 points to take the lead. Sophomore forward Zach Quattro (Ambler, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) started the run with a foul-line jumper, Hyland followed with a three-pointer and then Kaigler scored six points around a Buczek free throw for the lead.

Saint Rose took its final lead of the game with 6:50 left after putting together a 6-2 spurt, with four of the points coming from Jones.

Le Moyne countered again with six straight points before Damon Coleman made a lay-up with 3:42 left to tie the score for the final time at 55-apiece.

Hyland followed 21 seconds later with a three-pointer to kick-start a game-closing 13-3 run. Following baskets by Buczek and Rolon, Hyland made four straight free throws for a 66-58 lead with 16 seconds to go. Rolon then converted a pair of foul shots with 12 seconds remaining to deliver the final score.

Le Moyne (3-4, 2-1 NE-10), which has won three straight home meetings with the Golden Knights after winning just three of the first 11 matchups since Saint Rose joined the NE-10 in 2000, returns to the hardwood on Saturday at Adelphi University at 2:00 p.m.