WORCESTER, Mass. – Bloomfield College men's basketball completed a perfect opening weekend by defeating the National Association of Basketball Coaches' (NABC) 23rd-ranked Saint Michael's College, 92-86, in overtime. The meeting between 2024 NCAA East Regional Championship qualifiers on Saturday took place at the Assumption University Tip-Off Classic in Laska Gymnasium. 

RECORDS

• Bloomfield (2-0), Saint Michael's (0-2)

BLOOMFIELD LEADERS

• Senior Deavion Ellis, 32 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals, 11-for-15 field goals
• Redshirt junior Kareeme Davis, 18 points, 10 rebounds, 4 offensive rebounds
• Redshirt sophomore Starrell Hearns, 14 points, 3-for-6 three-pointers
• Junior Edward Ngene recorded 4 blocks and 6 rebounds

SAINT MICHAEL'S LEADERS

• Senior CJ Crews, 19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 4-for-10 three-pointers
• First-year Rico Byrd, 18 points, 5 rebounds, 7-for-12 field goals
• Junior Nolan Marold, 16 points, 5 rebounds, 6-for-9 field goals

GAME FACTS

• The Purple Knights outshot Bloomfield from the floor (48.4%-41.0%) and three-point range (42.9%-29.4%) but the Bears had a 10-4 steals lead and forced 12 turnovers.
• The teams played through 12 lead swings and seven ties.

THE ACTION

• Neither team led by more than three points until Ellis' three-point play provided Bloomfield an 18-14 edge at 12:35 of the opening half, and first-year Ethan Maynard added a jumper 38 seconds later to push the lead to six.
• Hearns' three-pointer extended the advantage to 34-26 with 5:39 remaining, but Brzezinski knocked down a go-ahead triple to cap an 11-2 run with 1:59 left (37-36).
• Redshirt sophomore Donovan Crawford hit two free throws at 1:04 to send Bloomfield into the locker room up 40-39, and the lead grew to 48-41 on Hearns' lay-in early in the second stanza.
• Brzezinski's three finished off a 12-2 response at 15:06, putting Saint Michael's up 53-50. Meeks twice made buckets that pushed the lead to eight, and Byrd's pair of free throws had his team up 64-56 with 9:55 left in regulation.
• The Bears used a late 10-4 run to erase a five-point hole and lead 76-75 on junior Zamorian Singleton's three-point play with 3:03 to go, but Duniver hit a tying freebie at 2:20 before countering a Davis basket with two more free throws with 21 seconds left, and the teams headed to overtime tied at 78.
• Ellis scored the first five points in the extra session, but Saint Michael's twice drew within two points, including as Brzezinski drove for a lay-up at 2:03 (87-85).
• However, senior Edward Ngene's lay-in with 58 seconds to go made it a four-point game, and Bloomfield rebounded a missed Purple Knight three on the next possession before salting away the contest.

UP NEXT

• Bloomfield at Pace, Wednesday, November 13^th, 7:30 pm. 
• Bloomfield at Southern New Hampshire, Saturday, November 16^th, 3:00 pm. 

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