ALBANY, N.Y. -- On day two of the Saint Rose Tip-Off in Albany, New York, there would be no nail-biting finish for Post University Men's Basketball who led nearly wire-to-wire against College of Saint Rose on Sunday evening, never relinquishing the lead after trailing 10-9 with 14:12 left in the first half, en route to a 82-78 victory to close out the weekend trip.

THE BASICS

Post University 82, College of Saint Rose 78

Post University (2-0)

College of Saint Rose (1-1)

HOW IT HAPPENED
Junior forward Nuha Sagnia put the Golden Knights in front right at the start but two quick baskets in response by junior forwards Kyle Alcy and Deng Deang gave the Eagles the lead back, 4-2. From there, Post would only trail by one on a jumper from junior guard Tristian Jeffries during a brief 4-0 run by Saint Rose that helped them take back the early advantage, 10-9. Senior forward Derrick Thomas II would quickly turn the tides back in favor of the Eagles with a 6-0 run all on his own after he drained back-to-back threes to open up a five-point Post lead. 

The first half lead would balloon to as many as 10 points in favor of the visitors following a three from junior point guard Robert Sanders which was followed up by the Golden Knights with a 6-0 run that looked to get them back into the game trailing by four, 23-19 with 9:13 remaining. Saint Rose would cut the deficit to one point on two different occasions but each time the Eagles would answer back with a basket of their own, ending the first half on a 5-0 run to take a 44-38 lead into halftime.

A layup by Deang with 10:32 left in regulation would give Post their largest lead of the affair by 17 points, 65-48, and they would continue to hold steady to that double-digit lead until 2:53 remained in the second half. That was when the Golden Knights would make one final push in hopes of getting themselves back into the game. A barrage of free throws and three-point shooting got Saint Rose within six points, 79-73 with 1:14 left after Jeffries hit from deep. Then two more Golden Knight free throws brought them within four with the clock reaching 40 seconds.

Junior forward Ata Turgut would drain a three following a pair of made free throws by Alcy, cutting the Post lead even further down to three, 81-78, with six seconds left. Junior point guard Bol Akot, who finished the game with 24 points, missed his first free throw but hit the second at the three second mark, securing the 82-78 win and the 2-0 start for the Eagles. 

BY THE NUMBERS

• Bol Akot played 35 minutes, scoring 25 points on 7-of-18 shooting while going a crucial 10-for-14 from the stripe
• As a team, Post University shot an impressive 38.9% from three, going 7-for-18 in the game 
• Making the most of 24 Saint Rose turnovers, Post University scored 26 points via turnovers while the Golden Knights got just 14 points off 14 Eagle turnovers 
• Post University is 2-0 to start the year for the third time in the last four seasons

WHO'S NEXT
Post University will return home for their 2023-24 home opener on Wednesday evening at the Drubner Center against American International College (AIC) at 7:00 PM. The Eagles have won three straight matches against the Yellow Jackets with the last one coming on the road in 2022, 84-58.