ARLINGTON, Va. – The Neumann University Men's Basketball team used a big second half to overcome a 14-point deficit and defeat Marymount University in Thursday night's Atlantic East Tournament semifinals by a score of 75-68.
 
Donte Dupriest led with 25 points as four Knights ended up with double digits. Jayson Love had 16, DJ Earl had 14, and Bryan Etienne had 13 to go with six assists.
 
Marymount got out to an 11-4 over the first 4:23 of the game before the two squad traded buckets over the next few minutes. With the Knights trailing by four with 8-41 left in the half, the Saints fired off a 15-6 run over the next four minutes for a 32-19 lead. Over the last four minutes of the first, Neumann stayed close but found themselves down 40-26 at the break.
 
The second half was a completely different story as it started with an 11-4 run by the Knights over 3:30. By the time the second was eight minutes old, the game was tied at 49 on the strength of a 12-3 push by Neumann. The Saints again surged ahead but couldn't extend the lead to more than two. With six minutes left, Love hit two straight three-pointers to tie the game at 62 then take the lead for good. They extended the lead to 70-64 before Marymount mounted a rally. They hit four straight points to get within two with 16 seconds left but the Knights hit key free throw to clinch the game, and their spot in the championship game.
 
Neumann (18-9) will now advance to the Atlantic East Conference Championship Game at No.2 seeded Gwynedd Mercy University on Saturday afternoon. The Knights will look for their second straight Atlantic East title starting at 2:00 PM