Box Score BOX SCORE

ALBANY – Junior guard Andre Pope tossed up a prayer from mid-court that bounced off the back iron allowing Le Moyne College to cling to a 63-60 Northeast-10 Conference victory over The College of Saint Rose tonight at the Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium. The Dolphins thus earned bragging rights in the year-long 'Upstate Challenge', a head-to-head competition between the two league rivals.

Pope was the lone player in double-figures scoring for the Golden Knights (0-4/0-2 NE-10) with 11 points. He also added six rebounds and five assists. Junior guard Anthony Robustiano delivered nine points on the strength of three, 3-pointers, while sophomore forward Jin Hong tossed in a career-best eight points in 13 minutes of reserve duty.

Sophomore forward Brian Zapisek was one of three double-digit scorers for Le Moyne (2-1/1-1 NE-10). Zapisek finished with 17 points, including a clutch 5-for-6 effort from the line down the stretch. Sophomore guard Nate Champion and junior guard Derrek Tartt contributed 13 and 10 points to go along with five boards apiece.

Saint Rose shot a season-low 35.7 percent (20-for-56) from the floor and was held to just six first half field goals that allowed the Dolphins to go up 33-22 at the break. Le Moyne stormed out of the locker room and led by as many as 17, 48-31, after freshman forward Ryan Romich buried a jumper with 9:57 to go.

It was at that point the Golden Knights began to find some rhythm on the offensive end. Robustiano and Hong helped spark an impressive 17-2 run to draw Saint Rose to within a pair, 50-48, at the 5:31 mark. Hong followed up a Robustiano deep ball with a layup and then Pope knocked down a 'three' of his own. Pope then forced a steal in the backcourt and promptly converted a layup to make things interesting.

The Golden Knights were simply never able to get closer than a bucket the rest of the way. Le Moyne went 6-for-8 from the stripe throughout the final minute to help seal things.

Both clubs return to league action this Sunday. Saint Rose heads to Southern Connecticut State University for a 1:30 pm date in New Haven, while the Dolphins are set to home their 2011-12 home slate against Assumption College at 3:00 pm.