Syracuse, N.Y. – First-year graduate student guard Isaiah Salter (Charlotte, N.C./Central Cabarrus/American International/Adelphi) scored 16 points to lead the Le Moyne College men's basketball team to a 79-58 win over The College of Saint Rose in Northeast-10 Conference action on Saturday afternoon at Ted Grant Court.

"We've been finding our identity on the defensive end," said head coach Nate Champion '14. "We're not the biggest team, but we knew that we needed to play so much harder than we did at Franklin Pierce and it starts with the interior. Today was a great challenge for us. We tied on the glass but I really thought that for most of the game we were owning the glass and we have to continue to play this way. We can't take days off. It was nice to see us go on a little bit of a run in the second half and not make it close for once [at the end of the game]. It was nice to see guys out there playing and having some fun. It was a big momentum builder getting the younger guys in, seeing C.J. Moore knock down a free throw, and just the way that our guys celebrated each other's contributions was awesome. Hopefully this win helps us out a little bit and gives us some momentum."

Salter recorded nine of his points in the first half on a trio of three-pointers, while also finishing the game with six rebounds, four assists and three steals. Redshirt sophomore forward Isaiah Elmore (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Catholic) turned in a career high 14 points along with seven rebounds and three blocks. Fourth-year junior forward tallied 13 points and six rebounds. First-year graduate student guard Mike DePersia (Cherry Hill, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial/IUPUI) registered eight points, six rebounds, six steals and four assists. His six steals are the most by a Dolphin since Naté Gause had six against Seton Hill on December 31, 2014.

Josh McGettigan led the Golden Knights in the loss with 14 points off the bench, all of which came in the second half, while adding five rebounds and a pair of steals. Latiek Briscoe posted 12 points and six rebounds in 19 minutes off the bench.

After Saint Rose jumped out to a 7-3 lead over the first four minutes of the game, the Dolphins rattled off 13 of the next 15 points to take the lead. Salter made a trio of three-pointers around two free throws by Elmore and then sophomore guard Zy'Ever Wingfield (Richmond, Va./Henrico/Fork Union Military Academy) made a jump shot.

The Golden Knights answered back with seven straight points behind a three-pointer and a lay-up by Briscoe around a jumper in the paint by Adam Dudzinski.

Le Moyne regained its seven-point lead with eight of the next nine points over a span of three minutes. Freshman guard Trent Mosquera (Brookline, Mass./Belmont Hill School) had a fast-break dunk off a steal, DePersia made a jumper and then Wingfield knocked down a pair of shots in the paint for a 24-17 lead with 5:05 until halftime.

The Golden Knights got back within three on a pair of occasions, but Sutherland scored the final four points of the half to give the Dolphins a 31-24 lead at halftime.

Following back-and-forth action over the opening four and one-half minutes of the second half, during which time Le Moyne's lead bounced between six and 12 points, the Dolphins ran off 26 of the next 33 points over 10 minutes to open up their largest lead of the season, 69-42, with 4:18 left. Mosquera and Elmore each had seven points in the run, while Salter had five, first-year graduate student guard Nate McClure (Houston, Texas/Concordia Lutheran/Texas State/State Fair C.C./IUPUI) had three and Wingfield and Sutherland each recorded a basket.

Saint Rose tallied the next eight points to get within 19 with 2:33 left before the teams traded points the rest of the way.

Le Moyne (4-5, 3-1 NE10) is back in action on Tuesday against American International College at 7:30 p.m.