Colchester, VT – The Post University men's basketball team built a double digit lead early on, but lost an 83-77 non-conference contest to Saint Michael's on Sunday afternoon.
The loss snapped a two game winning streak for the Eagles who now sit at 4-5 on the season.
David Jasson was the story of the first half, going 6-for-7 from the field, including 4-for-4 on three pointers for 16 points in the first 20 minutes of action.
The Eagles jumped out to an 18-9 lead, courtesy of three of those three-pointers from Jasson and one from D.J. Frechette.
After Saint Michael's rallied over the next six minutes to make it a 29-26 Post lead, the Eagles responded with seven straight points, with the last five coming from Tyler Small to give Post a 36-26 lead with 4:53 remaining.
The Purple Knights (4-5) again cut it to a three-point game, but another three from Small gave the Eagles a 39-33 lead at the 2:58 mark. The Eagles went into the break leading 45-38.
The first ten minutes of the second half saw the Eagles maintain a one to two possession lead throughout, and extending its lead to as much as seven points on three different occasions, the final two times coming on layups from Jordan Williams, giving Post a 62-55 lead with 11:24 remaining.
Saint Michael's rallied to take its first lead of the game on a three from Patrick Gardner with 5:58 remaining to make it a 68-67 Purple Knights lead.
Frechette responded on the next possession with a three of his own to put Post back up, 70-68.
After five straight free throws from the Purple Knights, Isaiah Holmes and Jasson hit back-to-back threes to put the Eagles back up, 76-73 with 2:15 remaining.
Saint Michael's tied it back up on the following possession as Kasai Brown made layup and subsequent free throw after being fouled. After the Eagles didn't score on the next possession, the Purple Knights would take the lead on a layup from Patrick Gardner, making it a 78-76 game with 25 seconds left.
On the ensuing possession, the Eagles turned the ball over, leading to a layup for the Purple Knights.
Jasson finished with a game-high 19 points, going 5-for-7 from three. Frechette scored 15 points, including three three-pointers. In his first start of the season, Small was 3-for-3 from deep, scoring 11. Devonte McCall had 14 points to go with a team-high six rebounds. Holmes finished with a team-high eight assists to go with his five points. The 19 assists for the Eagles were a season high.
Gardner led Saint Michael's in scoring with a8 points, with 16 coming in the second half. He also had 13 rebounds.
Up next, the Eagles return to the Drubner Center to take on Bentley at 2 p.m. on December 18.
