North Country 81, SUNY Adirondack 76

Michael Boyea, a Chateaugay native, dropped a game-high 31 points, including 10 assists.

"I was just proud of Michael's leadership," North Country Community College coach Chad LaDue said. "He played all 40 minutes with a heavy heart as his community is still mourning the loss of one of their Bulldogs. I couldn't be prouder of the performance he had. We're very lucky to have him be a part of our basketball family. He said, 'We're just not going to lose (Thursday).' It was pretty special."

The Saints, though, got out to a sluggish start in the early going.

"Offensively, I thought we played well, but we struggled defensively," LaDue said. "We changed our defense up a little bit. When we went to our 3-2 trap out of the half court, it got us back and pushed us ahead. Offensively, when we share the basketball, we're a good team."

Thomas Barnes finished in double figures with 12 points. Matt Gullotta added 11 points and 15 rebounds for double-double status, while Ivan Grcic recorded 10 points and 11 rebounds.

"This was one of SUNY Adirondack's better teams," LaDue said. "Our guys really had to play extremely well in the second half to help us leave with a win.

"But everybody got a chance to play (Thursday). We play Hudson Valley at 3 p.m. Saturday. It's only going to get harder for us. They're a very good team, and one of the biggest schools in our region. It's always a tough matchup when we have to play them."