Syracuse, N.Y. (January 13) -- A late rally fell short in the final minutes as the Assumption College men's basketball team dropped a 77-72 road game at Le Moyne College on Tuesday afternoon at Ted Grant Court.

Over the opening 6:15 of the game, the two teams traded the lead back and forth eight times that included an 11-9 Assumption edge on a three by sophomore Marcus Murray (Washington, D.C./John F. Kennedy). The Hounds stretched the lead out to double digits for the first time on a three from sophomore Jack Sullivan (Stony Point, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) with 8:48 left and led by as many as 16 at 29-13 after a Kamali Bey (Springfield, Mass./Wilbraham & Monson Academy) three with 6:56 on the clock.

Assumption continued to lead 30-19 with 3:42 left after a free throw by junior Terrance Bobb-Jones (Wilmington, Del./Delcastle-Voc Tech) and eventually took a 32-26 lead into the halftime break as Murray led the visitors with 11 first-half points.

In the second, a quick three by Nate Gause cut the Assumption lead down to 32-29 and the Dolphins eventually took the lead at 45-42 on a three by Connor Mahoney with 15:45 in a high-scoring beginning to the half. Le Moyne extended the lead out to double figures at 60-50 midway thru the half before Assumption again made it a single-digit margin. The Hounds first cut the lead to one on a baseline jumper from Bey with 5:42 left, along with a pair of Karl Ziegler (Annandale, Va./Annandale) free throws with 5:07 on the clock that closed to within 66-65.

The Hounds stayed within striking distance, including on a Ziegler three-point play with 1:20 left, before the Dolphins came away with the five-point win. A Bobb-Jones layup with 36.1 on the clock made it a one-point game for the last time, as he finished with an 11-point outing. Four Dolphin free throws in the final 32.5 seconds clinched the win, as Le Moyne finished the game 22-of-26 at the charity stripe.

Ziegler paced four Hounds in double figures with 18 points, along with 16 points from Murray. Bey also picked up 15 points to go with an 11-point game by Bobb-Jones. Gause led all scorers with 25 points and Qwadere Lovell picked up 22 points to pace the visitors as Stan Buczek also tallied 12 points and a team-best eight rebounds.

Assumption dropped to 6-9 overall and 3-7 in Northeast-10 play, while Le Moyne improved to 12-4 overall and 6-3 in the league with the win.

The Hounds are back in action on Saturday, January 17th as the team hosts Adelphi University for a 3:30 p.m. start at Laska Gym.

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