Golden Knights roll past Southern Connecticut State, advance to East Regional Final

SYRACUSE-The College of Saint Rose got off to a quick start for the second consecutive day and never looked back en route to a 67-47 victory against Southern Connecticut State in tonight’s NCAA East Regional semifinal at Ted Grant Court on the Le Moyne College campus.

The Golden Knights (26-7) will now meet Merrimack/St. Thomas Aquinas in Tuesday’s East Regional Final (Sweet 16) with a ticket to the Elite Eight in Sioux Falls, SD on the line. The national championship gets underway on Wednesday, March 22.

Saint Rose was its usual efficient itself on both ends of the court this evening. The Golden Knights shot 54.0 percent (27-for-50) from the floor and held the Owls (18-13), who a day earlier scored 109 points in their opening round game, to 34.0 percent (17-for-50) shooting.

“I am really proud of our focus today. We were very unselfish on both ends of the court all game. We continue to get contributions from several guys,” said head coach Brian Beaury. “I am excited to play for an NCAA Regional Championship Tuesday.”

Senior forward Tyler Sayre (Garnerville, NY/Albertus Magnus) and junior guard Mical-Ryan Boyd (Hempstead, NY/Long Island Lutheran) scored 17 and 16 points respectively to propel the Golden Knights charge. The duo also shot a combined 12-for-18 from the field. Additionally, junior forward Julian Lipinski (Melbourne, Australia/Whitefriars) tossed in 13 points and hauled in six rebounds.

Saint Rose scored the game’s first 10 points throughout the opening four minutes to set the tone. Senior forward Chris Dorgler (Floral Park, NY/Archbishop Molloy) knocked down a 3-pointer, for his 1000th career point, to make it 20-10 Golden Knights with 11:23 to go until the break. Five minutes later, junior forward Jack Jones (Sydney, Australia/Newington College) drained a trey himself that doubled the Golden Knights advantage to 20, 32-12, with 6:12 remaining.

It remained a 20 point ballgame at the break before Saint Rose eventually pushed its advantage to as much as 26, 51-25, after Lipinski finished inside with 15:54 left. Southern Connecticut State got no closer than within 17 points the rest of the way.

For the Owls, senior guard Michael Mallory (Westbury, CT/Hoy Cross) and junior forward Jerry Luckett, Jr. (Milwaukee, WI/Brown Deer) each scored 11 points.