Felician Athletics - 12/30/06 MEN'S BASKETBALL - Men Upend Saint Michael's, 90-83, With Big Second Half

PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. -- Felician College erased a 12-point halftime deficit and scored 56 second-half points in its 90-83 non-conference men's basketball victory over Saint Michael's College during Day 2 of the Pace University Holiday Classic on Saturday evening at the Goldstein Center.

Felician (4-7) opened the second period with a 20-6 run over the first six minutes, four seconds, turning a 46-34 deficit into a two-point lead. The the teams traded leads three more times over the next eight minutes, with neither team gaining more than a four-point edge, until three-point field goals on consecutive possessions by the Golden Falcons' Jason Romer (New York, NY) gave his team a 78-71 advantage with 5:33 to play.

Saint Michael's (7-5) would pull to within 82-81 at the 2:39 mark on a Brian Monahan (Kinderhook, NY) three-pointer, but did not score again until only 13 ticks remained. In the the meantime, Felician had put the game way by going 6 for 8 at the free-throw line. The Purple Knights shot 11 for 19 from three point range in the first half but only 4 for 17 in the second.

All-Tournament selection Sydir Mitchell (Paterson, NJ) had 27 points and 12 rebounds for the Golden Falcons, while teammate Michael Pierrot (Melville, NY) scored 26 points with 14 rebounds. Romer made all four of his second-half three-point attempts and finished with 13 points. Felician withstood a 35-point effort from tournament Most Outstanding Player Brendan Mullins (Downer's Drove, IL) of SMC, the Northeast-10 Conference's leading scorer.

The neutral-site victory was Felician's first win away from home this season in eight tries.