Syracuse, N.Y. – Senior forward C.J. Asuncion-Byrd (Greenwich, Conn./Greenwich/St. Thomas More/Gannon) hit a go-ahead free throw with 25 seconds left as the Le Moyne College men's basketball rallied for a 66-63 win over Saint Michael's College in Northeast-10 Conference action on Wednesday night at Ted Grant Court.

Junior forward Kobi Nwandu (York, Pa./Northeastern York/East Stroudsburg) led all scorers in the game with 20 points, including 11 in the second half, while adding five rebounds. Junior forward Tom Brown (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) tallied his team-best fifth double-double of the season with 18 points, including 11 in the first half, and 12 rebounds, including 10 in the second half. Asuncion-Byrd finished with 13 points, nine of which came in the second half, while adding three blocks.

Derek Cheatom led the Purple Knights in the loss with 19 points, including 12 in the first half and six rebounds before fouling out. Eli DiGrande posted a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while adding four blocks. Levi Holmes III tallied 12 of his 14 points in the first half.

The Purple Knights used a 5-0 spurt to take its first two-possession lead just over three minutes into the game. Holmes III made a fast-break jumper in the paint and then Cheatom buried a three-pointer.

After the teams split the next 10 points, the Dolphins scored seven straight points. Brown made a lay-up, Nwandu converted one of his own and then junior guard Ryan Roland (Syracuse, N.Y./Westhill/Mercyhurst) drilled a three-pointer.

Following the third tie of the game at 20-20 with 10:22 left in the first half, the Purple Knights scored 18 of the next 24 points to take a 12-point lead, 38-26, with 1:24 remaining in the half. Holmes III and Cheatom each scored five of the first 10 points before DiGrande scored four points and two others scored two points each.

The Dolphins got within nine on a three-pointer by redshirt junior guard Malik Garner (Midland, Mich./H.H. Dow/Sunrise Christian Academy/Saginaw Valley State) with 27 seconds left, but Winston Jones II made a lay-up with 10 ticks left to give the Purple Knights a 42-31 lead at halftime.

After DiGrande gave the Purple Knights their second 13-point lead of the opening minutes of the second half, the Dolphins scored 14 of the next 18 points to trim their deficit to three (50-47) with 10:07 to go. Brown scored five points in the span, while Asuncion-Byrd had four, Nwandu three and junior guard Zay Jennings (Allentown, Pa./Allentown Central Catholic/Caldwell) made two free throws.

Jordan Guzman scored five straight points for the Purple Knights to push their advantage to eight (55-47) for the final time with 9:05 to play.

The Dolphins scored the next seven points to get within 55-54 with 6:45 to play. Nwandu made three foul shots around two by Brown before Roland made a driving lay-up.

The Purple Knights extended their lead to four on a pair of occasions over the next three minutes, but the Dolphins tallied nine of the game's last 11 points to claim the victory. Nwandu started the run with a conventional three-point play with 3:04 to go.

After DiGrande made two foul shots with 44.7 seconds left for a 63-60 lead, Nwandu answered with two of his own with 32 seconds remaining. Nwandu then poked the ball away from Holmes III and Asuncion-Byrd collected the ball and was fouled with 25 seconds to play. He went to the foul line and converted both attempts for a 64-63 lead. After Holmes III missed a jumper with 10 seconds left, Brown snared the rebound and dished the ball to Jennings, who was fouled. He made both attempts to extend Le Moyne's lead to three.

Out of a timeout, the Purple Knights were able to get off a three-pointer from the left wing, but it was off the mark and Brown collected the game's final rebound.
 
Le Moyne (11-7, 8-5 NE10), which has won three straight games, concludes play against the NE10 Northeast Division on Saturday by hosting Assumption College at 3:00 p.m.