Albany, N.Y. – Sophomore guard C.J. Asuncion-Byrd (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich/St. Thomas More/Gannon) scored 19 points in the second half to lead the Le Moyne College men's basketball team to an 83-65 season-opening win over Concordia College on Saturday afternoon on the first day of the Northeast-10 Challenge Presented by Hilton Garden Inn Albany Medical Center at The College of Saint Rose's Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium.

Asuncion-Byrd, who finished the game with 21 points, made 9-of-14 shots in his Dolphin debut, while adding three rebounds and a pair of assists. Junior guard Russell Sangster (Rockville, Md./Bullis School) went 9-for-11 from the field en route to a career-best 20 points, while posting a career-high seven assists, four rebounds and three steals. Junior guard Tyree Chambers (Bayreuth, Germany/Graf-Münster Gymnasium/Providence) opened his Le Moyne career with 15 points, 13 of which came in the first half, while adding four assists and three rebounds.

Jalen Heath led the Clippers in the loss with 25 points, 17 of which came in the second half, while adding eight rebounds and four assists. Cedrick McFadden tallied 13 points and three assists, while Justyn Gardner recorded a double-double of 10 points and 11 rebounds.

After Elijah Brown opened the game's scoring with a three-pointer, the Dolphins rattled off 13 straight points to take the lead. Chambers nailed three consecutive three-pointers for the first nine points, junior forward Isaiah Eisendorf (Silver Spring, Md./Springbrook/Gannon) followed with a jumper in the paint and then Asuncion-Byrd made a fast-break lay-up to force a Concordia timeout with 16:14 left in the first half.

Following baskets by Gardner and McFadden to get the Clippers within six, the Dolphins answered with a 9-2 run to open up a 22-9 lead. All nine of Le Moyne's points came on three-pointers by freshman forward Tom Brown (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial).

Concordia responded with eight straight points and 12 of the next 14 to get within three, 24-21, with 6:41 left in the half. Heath tallied six of the first eight points, while three other Clippers each had two points in the span.

After back-and-forth action over the next 3:26 resulted in a 30-26 Le Moyne lead, the Dolphins closed out the half with 10 of the last 12 points to take a 40-28 lead into halftime. Sangster recorded six of the 10 points, while junior guard Tanner Hyland (South Portland, Maine/South Portland/Bridgton Academy) drained a three-pointer.

The teams went back and forth over the opening five minutes of the second half, with Le Moyne's lead bouncing between 10 and 15 points and landing at 13, 51-38, with 15:05 remaining in the game.

The Dolphins got six straight points from Sangster (2) and Asuncion-Byrd (4) to take a 19 point lead for the first time in the game with 13:28 left.

After the teams split the next 20 points over six minutes, the Clippers tallied seven straight points and nine of the next 11 to get within 14 with 4:21 to go. Gardner had the first four points and Heath followed with the last five.

The Dolphins countered with an 8-0 run to put the game away. Sangster buried a three-pointer, Eisendorf made a jumper and then junior guard Anthony Richards (New Castle, Pa./New Castle/West Virginia Wesleyan) drained a three-pointer.

Le Moyne (1-0) is back in action on Sunday against Molloy College at 1:00 p.m. at the Northeast-10 Challenge.