SPRINGFIELD, MA – The College of Saint Rose men's basketball team opened the game on a 16-2 run and led wire-to-wire in a 79-63 Northeast-10 Conference victory at American International College this evening. The Golden Knights (12-10/9-8 NE-10), who shot better than 50.0 percent (51.0) from the floor for the fifth time in six games, also generated a 25-9 margin in second chance points after outrebounding the Yellow Jackets 46-25.

Sophomore guard Shea Bromirski fell three shy of his career-high with 24 points to lead the way for Saint Rose. Bromirski went 5-for-8 from deep, while senior guard Jermaine Clark finished with 15 points on 3-for-6 shooting from the arc. Clark also added seven rebounds and four assists. Furthermore, sophomore forward Sheldon Griffin grabbed a career-high 13 rebounds to go with nine points, three assists and three steals.

American International (10-12/8-9 NE-10) received 17 points off the bench from sophomore guard Isiah Wallace. Freshman guard Ricky Hudson wound up with 16 points and sophomore guard Adrian Hynes-Guery tossed in 14 points.

Bromirski sent the Golden Knights off and running with a layup and a pair of treys to spark the initial run. Freshman guard Andre Pope added a “three” of his own and sophomore forward Brian Hanuschak converted a feed from Clark to make it 16-2 at the 16:19 mark.

The Yellow Jackets did not let things get away from them, however, whittling away at their deficit before closing the period with a 10-3 outburst. The end result was a four point, 37-33, Saint Rose lead at intermission. Junior forward Byron Richards buried a 3-pointer as he was fouled and knocked down the ensuing free throw, which got American International to within two, 35-33. However, freshman forward Devin Grimes answered for the Golden Knights with a layup on the other end just before the break.

Saint Rose began asserting itself in the second half thanks to another offensive outburst. After Wallace made it a four point, 51-47, ballgame with 10:53 left, Clark sparked a 13-2 jaunt with a jumper and two deep balls that pushed the Golden Knights' lead back to 15, 64-49. The Yellow Jackets were unable to recover and did not help their cause by shooting 16.7 percent (3-for-18) from the arc over the final 20 minutes.

Looking ahead, Saint Rose will look to keep pace in a tight race for the NE-10 regular season title Tuesday night when the Golden Knights host Adelphi University in a 7:30 pm league game. Both clubs enter the contest with identical 9-8 conference records. Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets are set to host Le Moyne College at 7:30 pm Tuesday in Springfield. 

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