MEN'S BASKETBALL COMES BACK TO TOP LE MOYNE 71-68
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (February 12, 2007) -
Magen McNeil (Philadelphia, Pa.) picked up his
12th double-double of the season with 22 points and 10
rebounds as American International College overcame a 32-28
halftime deficit to post a 72-68 Northeast-10 men's basketball win
over Le Moyne College. The win, the third straight for the
Yellow Jackets, gives them their most victories since 2001-02 as
they improve to 14-10 overall and 12-7 in NE-10 play, while the
Dolphins are 12-13 and 9-11 in the league.
The win, AIC's ninth in its last 11 outings, also moves the Yellow Jackets into a tie for fourth place in the Northeast-10 standings with idle Bryant, with American International holding the tiebreaker between the two clubs. The top four teams earn byes in the Northeast-10 tournament.
McNeil finished 9-17 from the floor. Jeff Dosado (Montreal, Quebec) drained five three-pointers and tallied 12 of his 17 points for AIC in the second half. Jenar Harrison (Queens, N.Y.) registered nine points and eight rebounds, while Tal Cohen (Hadera, Israel) added a career-best eight points off the bench.
Matt Cooper led Le Moyne with 21 points.
AIC quickly erased a 32-28 halftime deficit and would outscore 24-11 over the first eight minutes of the second half, building a 52-43 lead with 11:49 left on a Cohen basket. Dosado drained three three-pointers during the run, his last at 13:05 making it 50-43. The Dolphins responded with a 12-2 run to reclaim a 55-54 lead with 8:20 to go. Jonathan Joshua would have 11 of his 15 points in the game during the run, nailing a jumper then three straight trifectas, the last which gave Le Moyne the lead.
The hosts responded with six straight points to make it 60-55 with 6:47 left, a pair of free throws by Aikeem Vanderhorst (Bay Shore, N.Y.) with 7:32 left giving AIC the lead for good. The Yellow Jackets gradually pulled away and a pair of free throws by McNeil with 43 ticks on the clock made it 71-64. Le Moyne would get baskets by Matt Cooper and Mark Covin down the stretch, Covin's deuce coming with two seconds left but couldn't get any closer.
Le Moyne used a 11-2 run midway through the first half to claim a 25-17 advantage with 7:14 left before halftime on a Matt Vassil basket. The Yellow Jackets countered with a 11-5 spurt that made it 30-28 in favor of the guests with just under four minutes to go in the first stanza on a McNeil basket, and AIC trailed 32-28 at intermission.
AIC outrebounded Le Moyne 33-29 and shot a sizzling 62.5% (15-24) in the second half en route to the victory. The Dolphins were 14-28 from the floor in each half, but were just 4-19 behind the arc as opposed to AIC's 5-11 three-point shooting. Neither team fared well at the foul line with Le Moyne making 8-15 and AIC 10-20 at the stripe.
AIC returns to action Wednesday evening when it
travels to Waltham, Mass. to face second-ranked and unbeaten (23-0)
Bentley College. Tipoff is slated for 7:30 pm.