Syracuse, N.Y. – The Le Moyne College men's basketball team used balanced scoring to record a 68-61 victory over Saint Michael's College in Northeast-10 Conference action on Wednesday evening at Ted Grant Court.

"Another great win for us," said head coach Nate Champion '14. "Two in a row at home, a great way for us to bounce back after that loss to Stonehill to go out and do what we did against Southern New Hampshire and then to come back and have the balance in the scoring column that we did tonight against a team that plays zone. I thought we were patient. I thought we did a good job of wearing them down defensively and big kudos to the guys for working as hard as they did for the past two days to make sure we were ready to go for this game. We knew we weren't going to be extremely comfortable (going against the zone) and we knew we had to work through that and I thought we did a good job of just keep pushing and keep working at it and not just settling for threes and trying to just cast things up when we weren't moving the ball. I thought we did a good job of just being patient, working the ball, and as you saw in the scoring column, I mean guys were passing the ball, guys were scoring and I think Nino hit on it a little bit – everyone gets a piece of the pie here in our offense, and you're starting to see that with the depth that we have on our team."
 
"I loved Isaiah Elmore's intensity on the defensive end. We knew Patrick Gardner was a tall task for us and it was an extremely tough task for Isaiah. (Gardner) had 27 points on 23 attempts, and kinda like with Andrew Sisco against Daemen, we thought if we could make him shoot a lot of attempts to get to his points, then that was going to help in our favor and I thought Isaiah did a great job of just wearing him down, and to Isaiah's credit, he has the mobility and the ability to defend on the wings and on the perimeter, and I thought you saw that with Gardner, as he went out to take shots it was contested. Everything he was getting was earned, so I thought Isaiah really just battled tonight, and it showed."

The Dolphins, who didn't have a player in double figures for the first time since a 55-41 victory over American International on November 15, 2017, had three players with nine points and three with eight points. Third-year sophomore forward Luke Sutherland (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee/Siena/Bryant) recorded nine points, eight rebounds and four steals. Junior forward Xavier Wilson (Spring Valley, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac/The Hotchkiss School/Central Connecticut State) turned in nine points, two rebounds and two assists, while redshirt freshman guard Kevin Constant (Lawrence, Mass./Central Catholic/Tilton School) had nine points and a pair of steals.

Gardner led the Purple Knights in the setback with a double-double of 27 points, including 15 in the first half, and 12 rebounds, including six in each half, while adding three blocks and three steals. Jacob Duniver tallied 11 points and posted seven rebounds.

The Purple Knights scored the game's first five points and jumped out to a 14-7 lead just over five minutes into the contest. Duniver started the scoring with a three-pointer and then Gardner scored nine points around a jumper by CJ Crews.

The Dolphins used an 8-3 run to get back within two with 9:24 to go. Senior forward Nicholas Johnson (Silver Spring, Md./John F. Kennedy/Frostburg St./Montgomery College) had the first four points and then freshman guard Zy'Ever Wingfield (Richmond, Va./Henrico/Fork Union Military Academy) followed with the next four points.

Following back-and-forth action over the next three minutes, the Dolphins scored five points in a row to take their first lead of the game. Elmore made a lay-up and then redshirt freshman guard Christian Davis (Denver, Colo./Mullen/New Hampton School) drained a three-pointer off an in-bounds pass.

Gardner and Duniver gave the Purple Knights the lead back with baskets in the paint, but third-year sophomore guard Jeremiah Washington (Chicago, Ill./Bogan/Ferris State) made two foul shots with 1:18 left to give the Dolphins a 30-29 lead at halftime.

Le Moyne extended its lead to six with the first five points of the second half. Sutherland recorded a conventional three-point play and then senior guard Nino Hernandez (Gardner, Mass./The Winchendon School/Bryant) made a pair of foul shots.

After Hernandez pushed the lead to 39-31 with a jumper with 16:26 to go, the Purple Knights scored 10 of the next 11 points to take the lead back. Jalen Gorham made two foul shots, Gardner nailed a three-pointer and had a conventional three-point play and then Jason Heter knocked down a jumper for the lead.

Following a three-pointer by Nic Button with 10:05 left to knot the score at 44, the Dolphins rattled off 12 points in a row to take the lead for good. Wilson had a three-point play, Constant buried a three-pointer and a fast-break jumper, Wilson had a fast-break lay-up and then Washington slammed home a fast-break dunk for a 56-44 lead, which forced a Saint Michael's timeout with 7:39 left.

After the teams traded points over the next three minutes, Crews made a lay-up and Duniver drilled a three-pointer to get Saint Michael's within six with 3:49 to play, but that's as close as the Purple Knights would get.

Hernandez made two foul shots and then Washington made four from the charity stripe to close the game out.

Le Moyne (8-6, 4-3 NE10) returns to the hardwood on Saturday at Saint Anselm College at 3:30 p.m.