The show goes on for the Golden Knights

SYRACUSE, NY — The College of Saint Rose made nine of its first 10 shots and never looked back to upend Bloomfield 94-58 in the opening round of the NCAA East Regional Championship at Ted Grant Court on the Le Moyne College campus today. The Golden Knights (25-7) shot 57.4 percent (35-for-61) from the floor on the afternoon and held the Bears to 30.8 percent (20-for-65) shooting.

Saint Rose will now meet either Southern New Hampshire/Southern Connecticut State in tomorrow’s East Regional semifinal. Tip-off is set for 5:00 pm.

Senior forward Chris Dorgler (Floral Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy) tied his season with 19 points, on 7-for-11 shooting from the floor, to go along with nine rebounds, four assists, and three steals to lead the Golden Knights, who put 13 players in the scoring column.

Junior guard Mical-Ryan Boyd (Hempstead, NY/Long Island Lutheran) scored 10 of his 13 points in the second half, while junior forward Jack Jones (Sydney, Australia/Newington College) scored 13 points himself throughout 24 minutes off the bench. Senior forward Tyler Sayre (Garnerville, NY/Albertus Magnus) finished 10 points and eight boards.

“I am proud of the way we played today. We guarded and we were unselfish on both ends. Chris Dorgler was nothing short of spectacular,” said head coach Brian Beaury.

Saint Rose put itself in control early and led by no fewer than 11 points throughout the final 36 minutes. Junior forward Julian Lipinski (Melbourne, Australia/Whitefriars) knocked down a jumper to make it 20-7 Golden Knights with 15:31 to go in the first half. Seven minutes later, Dorgler drained a 3-pointer to make it a 20 point, 37-17, affair.

Saint Rose eventually took a 16 point, 43-27, halftime lead, before the Bears (22-10) cut their deficit to 11 on three occasions, the last time coming after junior guard Marcus Fleming (Linden, NJ/Linden) drained a jumper that made it 47-36 Saint Rose with 14:18 to go.

However, Saint Rose responded in efficient fashion. Boyd knocked down a trey from the left corner while being fouled and converted the ensuing free throw to put the Golden Knights back up 18, 61-43, with 9:24 remaining. Jones then canned three from the arc within a one minute span that made it 72-47 Saint Rose with 7:03 to go and little doubt left about the eventual outcome.

Freshman forward Chiedozie Akawuaku and junior forward Nick Davidson scored 11 points apiece to lead Bloomfield.