ALBANY, New York The American International Men's Basketball ran into a wall in Albany on The College of Saint Rose's senior night, losing to the Golden Knights 108-71.
The Yellow Jackets were led by
Juwan Moody's 22 points, going 6-8 from beyond the arc and shooting 66.7% from the field. AIC would also see
Jayvon Pitts-Young put up 18 points and eight rebounds. The only other player for the Jackets to surpass double digits was Brice Spruell, as he had 12 points and three assists.
The Jackets and Golden Knights would start the first half trading blows, as AIC would take a three point lead early after Moody hit a three point shot and
Tahlib Swan followed up with a contested layup with 15:46 left. That would be the last time AIC would lead in the first half, as the Golden Knights would up the ante, scoring 16 of the next 18 points, as Mical-Ryan Boyd and Tyler Sayre took control, putting Saint Rose up by 11 with 10:17 left in the first half.
The next time the Jackets would be able to get a good run together would be at the 5:31 mark with a
Bruce Spruell converted jump shot and a three pointer hit by Moody cutting the lead to 13. The Jackets and Golden Knights traded points back and forth, with no team able to go on a big run, to end the half with Saint Rose leading 45-28.
AIC would start the second half red hot, going on a 9-5 run, and seeing points come from Pitts-Young, Spruell and Moody, putting the Jackets down 17 to Saint Rose at the 16:51 mark. The Golden Knights would respond with two straight three-point shots by Chris Dorgler and Damon Coleman along with a Sayre jump shot to put the lead back up to 22 point with 13:13 left in the second half. Pitts-Young would score the Jackets' next five points, but the Golden Knights would not let up, going up by 26 before Moody would snap a four-point run by Saint Rose with a long distance shot from beyond the arc.
Moody would score the next four points for AIC with another three-point shot and a converted free throw at the 9:21 mark as Saint Rose led by 28. The Yellow Jackets saw a quick spurt of offense, scoring six of the next nine points, as Pitts-Young drained a three pointer,
Rasheed Howard made one of his free throw shots and Spruell made a layup with 6:50 left, making it an 83-56 game. The Golden Knights would show their dominance, surpassing the century mark with a tip in credited to Matt Cerutti at 2:55, making it a 100-61 game. AIC would see their bench get into the action late, with three point shots hit by
Kenneth Clayton and
Charles Chung along with a free throw hit by
Henry Vilfort late in the game with 33 seconds left.
The Jackets ended up on the wrong end of a hot Saint Rose team, losing 108-71.
AIC will conclude the season with a matchup on home court against conference rivals, the Adelphi Panthers, on Tuesday, February 21, with the start time scheduled for 7:30pm.
