SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – The American International College men's basketball team dropped a 56-52 Northeast-10 contest at the College of Saint Rose Saturday afternoon in a Northeast-10 contest.

The Golden Knights improved to 6-19 overall with their second win over the Yellow Jackets this season, while AIC fell to 8-17. Both are now 6-15 in the Northeast-10

Sophomore guard Kareem Thomas (Queens, N.Y.) scored a game-high 16 points to lead Saint Rose to the win, while senior forward Sheldon Griffin (Pittsburgh, Pa.) fell just short of a double-double with 15 point and nine boards. Senior guard Rob Gutierrez (Brooklyn, N.Y.) also just missed a double-double with 10 points and eight boards.

Sophomore guard Spencer Braithwaite (Dorchester, Mass.) and sophomore forward David Campbell (Boston, Mass.) each scored 14 points and pulled down six rebounds to lead the Yellow Jackets. Sophomore guard Janek Schmidkunz (Berlin, Germany) added 11 points, while sophomore guard D.J. Gutridge (Neptune, N.J.).

The Golden Knights led by as many as 13 midway through the first half and were up by 10 with 1:26 left in the opening frame before a five-point burst from AIC cut its deficit to 34-29 at the break.

The Yellow Jackets used a 13-0 second half run to take a 42-38 lead six minutes into the period and neither team led by more than five the rest of the way. Senior forward Brian Hanuschak (Cumberland, R.I.) gave Saint Rose the lead for good when he knocked down a jumper to make it 50-49 with 7:22 remaining in the game.

AIC trailed 54-52 after Braithwaite's free throw with 2:46 to go, but neither team scored again until Thomas converted a layup with 24 seconds left on the clock to seal the win for the Golden Knights.

The Yellow Jackets will close out the 2011-12 season Tuesday night when they host Northeast-10 rival Assumption College at 7:30 p.m. at Butova Gymnasium.