OAKDALE, N.Y. – Dowling College jumped out to an early 12-point lead and never looked back as it defeated the American international College men's basketball team 66-52 Wednesday night in a non-conference contest.

The Golden Lions improved to 2-4 for the season, while the Yellow Jackets fell to 4-7. It was the final game of 2011 for AIC, which will return to action when it travels to UMass Lowell January 3, 2012 for a 7:30 p.m. Northeast-10 contest.

Sophomore forward David Campbell (Boston, Mass.) scored off the opening tip for the Yellow Jackets before Dowling went on a 14-0 run to take the lead for good. The Golden Lions led 22-10 with 8:28 to go in the first half before blowing the game open with an 11-3 run to open a 21-point advantage.

The Yellow Jackets trailed 34-16 at the half and managed to pull back within eight, 54-46, with 7:27 to go in the contest following a three from sophomore guard Janek Schmidkunz (Berlin, Germany). That was as close as AIC would get the rest of the way as Dowling closed the game with a 12-6 run for the 66-52 final.

Senior guard John Merchant (Monticello, N.Y.) scored a game-high 17 points with four rebounds, three assists and two steals to lead the Golden Lions to the win. Sophomore forward McKenzie Felix (St. Lucia) netted 12 points with six boards, while junior guard Josh Malone (Deer Park, N.Y.) added 12 points with four boards. Sophomore guard Corwin Austin (Brooklyn, N.Y.) contributed 10 points and handed out six assists.

Schmidkunz scored 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting from downtown to lead AIC, while Campbell finished with 12 points and five boards. Sophomore guard Spencer Braithwaite (Dorchester, Mass.) also finished in double-figures with 10 points.

The Yellow Jackets shot 52.4 percent (11-21) from the field and 45.5 percent (5-11) from three in the second half after shooting just 26.1 percent (6-23) from the field and 25 percent (2-8) from three in the first half. Dowling shot 41 percent (25-61) from the floor and 43.5 percent (10-23) from three in the game.