ALBANY, N.Y- The College of Saint Rose men's basketball team took down Southern New Hampshire 71-66 in Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium this evening. The Golden Knights used a key run in the middle of the second half to secure their first Northeast-10 Conference victory on the season. 

Golden Knights freshman guard Latiek Briscoe, who earned his first start of the season tonight, was the game's leading scorer with a career high 18 points on 7-of-18 shooting. Briscoe shot 2-of-6 from beyond the arc and 2-of-3 from the free throw line. He also swiped three of the Golden Knights 10 steals. 

Saint Rose showed full court pressure from the start of the game and played an in-your-face style defense all night, which led to 18 Penmen turnovers in which the Golden Knights would turn into 25 points. Saint Rose would take a 33-28 lead into half time. 

Saint Rose would extend their lead to nine points with 13 minutes left to go, but a 12-2 Penmen run, capped off by a jumper for guard Ethan Okwuosa, over the next five minutes would tie things up 48-48. Okwuosa led Southern New Hampshire in scoring with 13 points, 8 of those coming in the second half. 

Freshman forward Adam Dudzinski would knock down his lone three of the night to give the Golden Knights back the lead, but Noah Kamba, who scored all of his eight points in the second half, would answer for the Penmen with a three of his own to once again tie things up. The game would have seven ties and seven lead changes throughout the 40 minutes. 

With the score tied at 51-51, Briscoe would go on a five-point scoring run for the Golden Knights, knocking down a three and slamming home a fast-break dunk. Saint Rose would lock in on defense the rest of the way, never looking back en route to the five-point victory.

Saint Rose held a 38-31 lead on the boards this evening, which included 15 of the offensive variety. They would also outscore the Penman 34-26 in the paint. 

Sophomore forward Shane O'Dell led the Golden Knights with 8 rebounds and 8 assists. He would also add 6 points and a block. Senior forward Juran Ligonde would finish in double digits with 12 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 4-of-7 from the line, while adding 7 rebounds and a steal. 

Junior guard Eric Fleming finished with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting. 

The Golden Knights will be back at Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium on Thursday at 7:00pm for a non-conference matchup with Goldey-Beacom. Southern New Hampshire will head back home to host Pace University on Saturday at 2:00 pm.

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