Men's Basketball falls in regular season closer at Saint Michael's

COLCHESTER, Vermont - The American International College men's basketball team dropped an 85-69 Northeast-10 Conference contest against Saint Michael's College in the 2023-24 regular season finale on Tuesday, February 27.

AIC ends the regular season at 9-19 overall and 7-15 in the NE10, good for 11th place in the league.

Justice Ellison notched AIC's first two field goals, but the Purple Knights built a large lead early; they had a 16-4 advantage before an Ellison three started turning the tide, and Aguibou Balde starred in the next segment of the game, helping shrink the Purple Knight edge to just 20-17. However, the home team drained key threes to re-establish the advantage, and only a buzzer-beating triple from Kanye Wavezwa had AIC within 10 at the break, as Saint Michael's took to the locker room ahead 43-33.

The second half was more of the same. AIC closed to within seven several times, but could never get closer, as the league-leading Purple Knights made enough shots, especially from deep, to keep the Yellow Jackets at bay. They pulled away late, and finished with the 85-69 victory.

Ellison led the Yellow Jackets with 23, a high for the game, and added eight boards; Balde scored 19 points with eight rebounds as well and Jacob Barnett notched 14 points. Barnett and Lovre Zaja each dished out five assists as well.

AIC will be on the road for the Northeast-10 Championship Tournament First Round on Friday, March 1 at Southern Connecticut State University. Tipoff is slated for 7:00 p.m.