Still Dancin': Saint Rose to Play for Regional Title Tuesday Night

Still Dancin': Saint Rose to Play for Regional Title Tuesday Night

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Saint Rose impressed in a wire-to-wire win against NE10 divisional rival Southern Connecticut, while 8th-seeded Merrimack's run came to an end in a tightly-contested game. Here's how Sunday's action played out in Syracuse - 


#3 Saint Rose 67 #7 Southern Connecticut 47

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 in Sunday's NCAA East Regional semifinal at Ted Grant Court on the Le Moyne College campus. 

The Golden Knights (26-7) will now meet 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 and junior guard Mical-Ryan Boyd 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 tossed in 13 points and hauled in six rebounds.

For the Owls, senior guard Michael Mallory and junior forward Jerry Luckett, Jr. each scored 11 points.


#5 St. Thomas Aquinas 73, #8 Merrimack 70

Graduate forward Anthony Barry scored 19 points and added eight rebounds while sophomore guard Troy McLaughlin collected 16 points with four 3-pointers, but eighth-seeded Merrimack lost by a 73-70 final to the fifth-seeded Saint Thomas Aquinas Spartans on Sunday night to the East Region Semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

Merrimack rallied from a 10-point deficit with 8:28 to play to take a 69-68 lead, but the Spartans came back to win the game on a Justin Reyes three-point play with 2:02 to go.  

McLaughlin caught fire over the final three minutes, knocking down a triple to tie the game at 66-all to cap off a 10-2 Warriors run to tie the game. McLaughlin then hit a 3-pointer on Merrimack's next possession to push the Navy and Gold in front, 69-68. Reyes got a post touch on the other end of floor and hit a lay-in followed by a free throw to make it a 71-69 game. 

Information for this release provided by the athletic communications staffs at Merrimack and Saint Rose

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