Syracuse, N.Y. – Fourth-year junior forward Luke Sutherland (Syracuse, N.Y./West Genesee/Siena/Bryant) tallied 18 points to lead the Le Moyne College men's basketball team to an 83-72 victory over Saint Michael's College in Northeast-10 Conference action on Wednesday night at Ted Grant Court.

Sutherland scored 11 of his game-high point total in the first half. Senior forward Xavier Wilson (Spring Valley, N.Y./Archbishop Stepinac/The Hotchkiss School/Central Connecticut State) registered a season-high 16 points, including 10 in the first half, and added seven rebounds, three blocks, three steals and three assists. First-year graduate student guard Mike DePersia (Cherry Hill, N.J./Haddonfield Memorial/IUPUI) recorded 10 points, including eight in the first half, in his return to the court after missing four games, while posting four steals, four rebounds and two assists. Redshirt sophomore guard Kevin Constant (Lawrence, Mass./Central Catholic/Tilton School) turned in eight of his 10 points in the second half, while tallying a team-high eight rebounds to go with two blocks and a steal.

All five starters scored in double figures for the Purple Knights, led by 16 points from Romar Reid, who also had five rebounds, five assists and three steals. Kasai Brown netted 15 points, including 10 in the first half, while CJ Crews had 14 points and four rebounds. Joël Kabimba tallied a double-double of 13 points (all in the second half) and 11 rebounds, while Jacob Duniver contributed 12 points and six rebounds.

The Dolphins opened the game with eight of the first nine points with four apiece from Sutherland and redshirt sophomore forward Isaiah Elmore (Tampa, Fla./Tampa Catholic).

The Purple Knights countered with an 8-2 run to close within a point with 14:48 left in the half. Brown and Duniver hit three-pointers and then Reid made a pair of foul shots.

Le Moyne pushed its lead back out to six over the next 1:28 as Wilson scored eight straight points around a three-pointer by Brown.

Following back-and-forth action over the next six minutes, Constant made a lay-up and fourth-year junior guard Jeremiah Washington (Chicago, Ill./Bogan/Ferris State) drilled a three-pointer to give the Dolphins their first double-digit lead of the game at 31-21 with 5:28 left.

After a three-pointer by Crews to get the Purple Knights within seven, the Dolphins used an 8-2 run to take their largest lead of the half at 41-28 with 1:55 remaining. Sutherland made a jumper, redshirt sophomore guard Jack Poirier (Scituate, Mass./Scituate) buried a three-pointer, Sutherland added a free throw and then DePersia connected on a pair of free throws.

Reid made a free throw with 2.4 seconds left to get the Purple Knights within 41-29 at the intermission.

Saint Michael's scored the first six points and eight of the first nine of the second half to close within five. Kabimba scored six of the points and Reid made a jumper.

Le Moyne responded with six straight points to push its lead back to 11 as Sutherland made a pair of shots around two free throws from DePersia, but the Purple Knights countered with six consecutive of their own, led by two jumpers from Brown.

The Dolphins rattled off the next 15 points to extend their lead to 20 with 10:01 remaining. Sophomore guard Zy'Ever Wingfield () tallied five points in the span, while first-year graduate student guard Isaiah Salter (Charlotte, N.C./Central Cabarrus/American International/Adelphi) had four and Wilson and junior guard Darrick Jones Jr. (Richmond, Va./Oak Hill Academy/Towson) each had three.
72-55
Following back-and-forth play over the next six and one-half minutes, Saint Michael's used a 14-3 run to trim its deficit to six, 75-69, with 1:20 to play. Crews hit a pair of three-pointers, Kabimba had a lay-up, Crews knocked down another three-pointer and then Duniver made a trifecta.

After three points by the Dolphins to push the margin back to nine, Reid drilled a three-pointer with 47 seconds left to make it a six-point game again, but that would mark the final points of the game for the Purple Knights.

The Dolphins went 5-of-6 from the foul line over the final 45 seconds to put the game away.

Le Moyne (9-7, 6-2 NE10), which improved to 5-1 at home, is back in action on Tuesday at Saint Anselm College at 5:30 p.m. The matchup will feature two of the top four teams in the conference as the Hawks are currently in first place heading into their contest Saturday with fellow one-loss team, New Haven.