Resilient Men's Basketball team battles back to down Saint Rose

SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - Trailing by as much as 13 points, the American International College men's basketball team overcame a tough start to edge out The College of Saint Rose, 67-66, in their Northeast-10 Conference matchup on January 3.

AIC improves to 5-7 with a 3-3 NE10 mark.

The Golden Knights jumped to an early 4-0 lead, and though AIC tied it shortly after at 6-6 on a triple by Lovre Zaja that was set up by Justice Ellison, Tristan Jeffries countered with a three of his own to return the visiting side to the lead. That advantage fluctuated between one and three points until the 9:35 mark, when a Dante Weise breakaway layup put the Golden Knights ahead by a 19-14 count.

Kanye Wavezwa knocked in a three, but the Golden Knights began a run, and built their advantage to 11. AIC again answered, with Buka Peikrishvili firing home a pair of deep chances to shrink the deficit down, only for Saint Rose to answer with one from the hands of Tyler Boyd III. He put away another with 1:08 to go in the half, and an old-school three by Christian Pierre-Louis ensured the Golden Knights of a 10-point lead at the break, as they took a 43-33 edge to the locker room, having held AIC to just 37.1 percent shooting.

The second half started as the first had gone; Peikrishvili and Ellison scored from downtown, but immediately the Golden Knights answered with one of their own. They held the Yellow Jackets off for quite awhile after that, allowing just two field goals in the next 7:31 before Aguibou Balde put back a miss by Jacob Barnett. The Yellow Jackets trailed 56-45, and seemed to be in trouble.

AIC's squad went to work from there, however. Over the next five minutes of play, the gap shrank to five as the Yellow Jackets turned their defensive level up and slowed the Golden Knights offense to just one field goal. Wavezwa was instrumental in building on the momentum, draining a pair of threes, the latter tying the game with 3:36 to play.

With the pressure on, AIC pounced. A steal by Balde allowed Ellison to break forward, and he put AIC ahead for the first time at 16:56 of the half. The Golden Knights again had a response, with Boyd tying the game with 1:27 to go, but the Yellow Jackets were not to be denied. Balde drew and converted a pair of free throws with 58 seconds to play, and AIC's defense shut down the opposition from there, forcing a pair of bad shots in the dying seconds of the match to hold on to the 67-66 win.

On the game, Ellison led AIC's offense with 14 points and also snagged six rebounds. Balde and Wavezwa each notched 12 points, with Balde adding four swipes and three helpers, while Peikrishvili scored 11 with six boards. Barnett scored seven points and added a team-best seven rebounds, while Zaja posted eight points, four rebounds, and four assists.

The team next hosts the University of New Haven for a 3:30 p.m. tipoff at the Butova Gym on Saturday, January 6.