SPRINGFIELD, Mass. American International men's basketball senior point guard Spencer Braithwaite (Dorcester, Mass.) knocked down 24 points, but the Golden Knight's pulled away late for an 82-73 Northeast-10 victory at Butova Gymnasium Thursday evening.

AIC falls to 9-13 overall and 6-9 in NE-10 play, while Saint Rose improves to 11-10 overall and 8-7 in the conference.

Saint Rose was able to quickly build a lead, getting up 15-8 at 6:04 of the first half and extending the advantage to 31-16 with an and-one with 5:29 left in the frame, but from there the Yellow Jackets were able to battle back, with junior forward Marcus Porter (New Castle, Del.) hitting three jumpers as part of a 14-4 run where Saint Rose's only points came at the free throw line to make the score 35-30 at the half.

The second half began as a back-and-forth battle, as AIC and Saint Rose traded baskets and a few threes, and after senior guard Janek Schmidkunz (Berlin, Germany) drilled a shot from the outside at 5:01, the score was 45-40, the same five-point advantage that the Golden Knights had started with.

However, the next seven minutes belong to Saint Rose, as they extended the advantage to 20, outscoring AIC 23-8. The Yellow Jackets were able to chip away at the lead, but never got closer than they were at the final horn when they trailed by nine.

Braithwaite had a team-best 24 points that included a perfect seven-for-seven performance at the line, while Porter had 21 points and 10 rebounds for the double-double, and Schmidkunz also hit double figures with 12 points.

Saint Rose was led by Dominykas Milka, who led all-scoring with 29 points, while adding 14 boards for a big double-double for the big man..

The Jackets return to action Saturday when they hit the road to face the Pace Setters in Northeast-10 action, with tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m.