Men's basketball drops home finale
SPRINGFIELD, Massachusetts - The American International College men's basketball team fell in the regular-season finale to The College of Saint Rose on Tuesday, February 22 in Northeast-10 Conference action.
FAST FACTS:
Final Score: St. Rose 73, AIC 68
Records: AIC drops to 6-22 (3-16 NE10), while St. Rose moves to 11-12 (8-10 NE10)
Location: Henry A. Butova Gym Springfield, Massachusetts
KEY STATS:
AIC:
Xion Golding: 21 points, 12 rebounds, four assists
Frankyn Batista: 16 points, seven rebounds
Tyrae Washington: 14 points, seven rebounds, four steals
St. Rose:
Shane O'Dell: 28 points, seven rebounds
Eric Fleming: 16 points, seven rebounds
Tray Alexander: 14 points, four rebounds
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The game was tied at nine when the Golden Knights went on a 20-2 run to take the 29-11 lead.
- The Yellow Jackets trailed 31-13 when graduate Xion Golding when on a 5-0 run of his own over 49 seconds. The points included a beautiful swish from the left wing for three. After 20 minutes of play, St. Rose led 36-19.
- AIC trailed 44-25 with under 15 minutes left when the Yellow Jackets went on an 18-9 run over the next six minutes which forced the Golden Knights to call a timeout. During the run, AIC used a balanced scoring attack with six points from each of junior Tyrae Washington, Golding, and junior Frankyn Batista. AIC shot 9-of-11 from the field to make it a 10-point game at 53-43.
- Out of the timeout, AIC continued to control the game with an 8-2 run over the next two and a half minutes to cut the deficit to four at 55-51.
- The play of the game came with 1:50 left to play when Washington chased down Tray Alexander from behind and blocked the ball off the backboard and bounced to midcourt and Golding grabbed the rebound.
- Forty-five seconds remained when Washington hit a layup and made it 68-64. The Golden Knights hit the first of two free throws but missed the second. The Yellow Jackets pushed the ball and Golding scored his 21st point of the night with 27 seconds left and AIC called a timeout trailing 69-66.
- Shane O'Dell hit a pair at the line to extend their lead but Golding drove to the basket again to make it 71-68. AIC had to foul to extend the game and fell by the score of 73-68.
NEXT UP:
- The Yellow Jackets will hit the road to take on Franklin Pierce University on Friday, February 25 at 7 p.m. tip. in the First Round of the Northeast-10 Conference Championship Tournament.