SPRINGFIELD, Mass. The American International College men's basketball team fell in Northeast-10 action Saturday afternoon at the Butova Gymnasium to the College of Saint Rose, 74-66.
With the loss AIC falls to 11-14 overall and 7-12 in conference play, while with the win Saint Rose finishes the regular season 13-13 and 11-9 in NE-10 tilts.
The Golden Knights opened the game with a mini spurt to grab a 6-2 lead early on. The Jackets responded with an 11-4 run of their own highlighted by a pair of trey's by freshman Jayvon Pitts-Young (Portland, Md.) and junior Juwan Moody (Pontiac, Mich.), for the 13-10 edge at the 12:21 mark.
AIC began to heat up late in the half as senior Trahmier Burrell (Albany, N.Y.) drained a pair of long range shots, the second sparking an 8-0 run for the hosts and was capped off with a rare four-point play from Moody for the 33-25 edge with 2:56 remaining in the half.
Jacket junior Justin Daniel (Forth Worth, Tex.) got in on the three-ball action just before the close of the half, burying a 3-pointer near the top of the circle after sophomore Nolan Woodward (Montreal, Quebec) found his teammate alone. Daniel's three sent AIC into the half up 10, 38-28.
Saint Rose came out of the intermission on fire and quickly climbed back into things thanks to a 12-5 run helped out by five points from Tyler Sayre to pull within three just over two minutes into the second half, 43-40.
Back-and-forth they went until it became knotted at 51 apiece with 12:06 to go. AIC senior Cameron Dobbs (Albany, N.Y.) slashed to the hoop to put his team back up, but Golden Knight Pharroh Gordon knocked down a three on the ensuing St. Rose possession sparking a 9-0 run that featured five from Gordon.
The Jackets chipped away at the seven-point deficit. Burrell hit a pair from the line, while Pitts-Young hit another trey and Woodward laid it in to tie it up at 60 all with under eight to go.
The Knights regrouped and scored the next eight points while finishing the game on a 14-6 run.
Pitts-Young led four Jackets in double figures with 13 points. Burrell and Dobbs chipped in 12 apiece, while Moody added 11. AIC owned the battle on the glass (38-26), led by 10 boards from Woodward.
St. Rose was powered by 16 Julian Lipinski points as the reserve shot 8-13 from the floor.
The Yellow Jackets return to the hardwood on Tuesday, Feb. 23 as they travel to Adelphi University to close out the regular season with a Northeast-10 road clash with the Panthers. Tip-off from Garden City, N.Y. is slated for 7:30 p.m.
