SYRACUSE -- Sophomore guard Isiah Wallace scored a game-high 20 points to lead four players in double-figures as American International knocked off the 20th-ranked Le Moyne College men’s basketball team, 72-68, in Northeast-10 Conference action on Tuesday night at Ted Grant Court.

The Yellow Jackets opened the game by scoring 12 of the first 14 points, including the first five of the contest. Aikeem Vanderhorst accounted for a pair of lay-ups in the stretch. The Dolphins bounced back with a 12-2 run of their own to tie the score at 14 apiece on a lay-up by junior guard Can Ozkaner (Ankara, Turkey/Tilton School (N.H.)) with just over 10 minutes remaining in the half.

With the Dolphins leading 18-17, Wallace hit consecutive three-pointers to ignite a 13-6 streak to regain a six-point advantage. Le Moyne scored six of the half’s final seven points to go into halftime trailing 31-30. Junior forward Kevin Roth (Lake View, N.Y./St. Francis HS) converted back-to-back baskets and sophomore guard Chris Johnson (Lindenhurst, N.Y./Lindenhurst) scored off a lay-up to close out the scoring in the stanza.

Le Moyne, which moved into the NABC Division II Coaches Poll earlier in the day for the first time since 1988, tied the contest on four occasions over the opening five minutes of the second half before Johnson scored five straight points to give the Dolphins the lead with 11:38 remaining in the game. Senior forward Laurence Ekperigin (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) and freshman forward Michael Goodman (Syracuse, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) converted traditional three-point plays around an Anthony Thomas lay-up to give the Dolphins a game-high six-point lead with just under 10 and one-half minutes remaining.

The Yellow Jackets responded by hitting five consecutive three-point attempts to turn a five-point deficit into a seven-point advantage with 4:11 left on the clock. Wallace hit the first of the long-range jumpers, while Allen Aragbaye knocked down three and Byron Richards added one from the right side. A pair of Thomas foul shots on AIC’s next possession pushed the lead to a half-best nine points with 3:21 to go.

Le Moyne cut its deficit to four points three times in the final 1:51 of the game and pulled to within three points on a Roth lay-up with 15 remaining, but Richards sealed the win for AIC by hitting 1-of-2 foul shots with 14 seconds left.

Johnson was the leading scorer for the Dolphins for the third time in four games this season with 15 points off the bench. Roth finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the year, while Ekperigin registered his third straight double-double with 10 points and a game-high 14 rebounds. Wallace buried 5-of-7 three pointers en route to his 20 points, while also pulling down 12 rebounds. Thomas and Aragbaye each finished with 15 points, while Vanderhorst added 14 points.

Le Moyne (3-1, NE-10 1-1), which had its 11 game regular-season win streak snapped, returns to the court at New Haven on Sunday, Nov. 29 at 4:00 p.m.

On the women's side, senior guard Muffy Sadler (Cedar Rapids, Iowa/John F. Kennedy/Binghamton) scored a game-high 15 points to lead the Le Moyne College women’s basketball team to a 55-44 win over American International on Tuesday night at Ted Grant Court. The victory marked the first win for first-year head coach Rich Conover.

After the Yellow Jackets scored eight of the game’s first 12 points over the opening 3:43 of the contest, the Dolphins scored 10 straight points to take control of the game. Senior guard Siobhan Shields (Mason, N.H./St. Bernard’s Central Catholic), who scored the first nine points of the game for the Dolphins, ignited the run with a foul shot, a fast-break lay-up and a jumper to give her team the lead. Sadler followed with a three-pointer and freshman forward Emily Bayly (Schenectady, N.Y./Niskayuna) connected on a pair of free throws to extend the lead to six.

Following a Yellow Jacket free throw to end the run, Bayly drilled a three-pointer from the top of the key for a 17-9 lead with 9:18 remaining in the opening period. The two squads traded baskets over the remainder of the half to go into intermission with the Dolphins leading 22-15.

Adriana Johnson made a lay-up for the Yellow Jackets to open the second half and cut the Le Moyne lead to five, but the Dolphins responded with nine straight points to open up a game-high 14 point lead with 14:18 to go. Sophomore Katie Hart (Constantia, N.Y./Central Square/Canisius) keyed the run with a pair of foul shots and a fast-break lay-up.

American International used a 15-6 spree over the next seven minutes to cut its deficit down to five points at 37-32. Laechia Conley and Marie Li Sicard each scored four points to lead the Yellow Jackets in the run.

Senior all-conference forward Courtney Coryea (Mooers Forks, N.Y./Northeast Clinton), making her season debut after missing Le Moyne’s 68-64 loss to Southern Connecticut State last Wednesday, tallied five straight points on a top-of-the-key three-pointer and a pair of foul shots and Sadler drilled her fourth three-pointer of the contest to push the Le Moyne lead back to 11 points.

The Yellow Jackets were able to cut their deficit down to four points on a pair of occasions using a pressing defense, the last of which came at 48-44 with 58 seconds remaining, but could not get any closer. The Dolphins closed out the game with seven foul shots, capped by a pair from Sadler with 19 seconds to go.

Sadler, in her first year with the Dolphins after transferring from Binghamton University, accounted for her game-high point total on 4-of-8 shooting from long-range and by connecting on 3-of-4 free throw attempts. Sadler tied her career-high with a team-best eight rebounds, while also dishing out a game-high six assists. Shields, who eclipsed her previous career high in the first 5:36 of the game, finished the contest with 11 points. Coryea finished with nine points in 18 minutes off the bench to move within eight points of becoming the program’s 13th player with 1,000 career points. Johnson led the Yellow Jackets with 11 points, while Conley pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds.

Le Moyne (1-1, NE-10 1-1), which has won five straight games over the Yellow Jackets, return to the hardwood on Sunday, Nov. 29 at New Haven at 2:00 p.m.

Courtesy: Le Moyne Athletics