Box Score ALBANY – Senior forward
Sheldon Griffin buried a 3-pointer from the right wing with three seconds remaining to lead The College of Saint Rose past visiting Saint Michael's College 71-68 in a Northeast-10 Conference contest today at the Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium. The Golden Knights snapped a two-game skid in the process, while the Purple Knights have now lost two in a row.
Griffin paid dividends down the stretch for Saint Rose (3-14/3-10 NE-10). His tip-in at the 2:38 mark gave the Golden Knights a 66-61 edge. Saint Michael's sophomore guard Mike Holton Jr. answered with a trey and then freshman forward James Cambronne knocked down a jumper to knot things at 66-66. Griffin then went 1-for-2 from the line to set up an exciting final minute.
Saint Rose got a pair of stops on the defensive end and then sophomore guard
James Wilson came up with a big steal. Fellow sophomore guard
Kareem Thomas hit 1-of-2 at the stripe that put the Golden Knights ahead by two, 68-66. But Saint Michael's freshman Corey Crawford drew a foul and connected on both free throw attempts to again knot things at 68-68. That set up Griffin's heroics and he was subsequently named the Saint Rose Capital District Alumni Association Player of the Game.
Senior
Rob Gutierrez led three players in twin-figures for the Golden Knights with a season-high 21 points. Gutierrez additionally became the 25th player in Saint Rose annals to reach the 1,000 point plateau. Griffin wound up with 16 points, seven rebounds and two assists; while Thomas added 12 points and four steals in his sixth career start.
Holton Jr. led all players with 23 points for the Purple Knights (7-10/6-7 NE-10). Crawford added 16 points, on 6-of-9 shooting from the floor.
It appeared as though things would not come down to the wire in the early stages of the second half. The Golden Knights added to their six point, 33-27, halftime margin when senior forward
Brian Hanuschak finished off a conventional 3-point play. However, Saint Michael's outscored Saint Rose 14-6 over the next four minutes and it remained a two possession ballgame until the final buzzer.
Both squads return to action Wednesday night with a pair of 7:30 pm NE-10 games on the docket. The Golden Knights host UMass Lowell in a rematch of last year's first round game of the NCAA Tournament. Meanwhile, the Purple Knights head to Assumption College.
