CANTON, N.Y. – Sophomore Rhona Eseyade and freshman Mike Manley tied for the game high with 16 points apiece as the Union College men's basketball team kept its postseason hopes alive with a big 70-61 win over first-place St. Lawrence University in Liberty League action on Friday night at Berkman Gymnasium.
 
The win is a crucial one for Union (9-12, 5-10 Liberty League), keeping the Dutchmen two games back of RPI for sixth place and one game back of seventh-place Vassar College with three games remaining in the regular-season slate. St. Lawrence (15-7, 12-3 Liberty League) falls into a tie for first place in the conference with the defeat.
 
Led by Eseyade and Manley, the Union bench came up huge on Friday night, outscoring their SLU counterparts by a 43-17 margin. Eseyade hit 6-of-8 shots for 16 points with four blocks and three rebounds, while Manley added 16 points and five boards. Senior Brendan Laing also reached double figures with 10 points and classmate Kevin McNoble added a game-high 12 caroms and seven boards as well for the visitors.
 
Down by three early in the second half, Union came up with a big 17-2 run to take control of the game. The Dutchmen hit 5-of-7 shots from the field and 5-of-6 free throws during the game-changing run, which started with a pair of Eseyade freebies and concluded with an Eseyade layup that gave Union a 47-36 lead with 10:18 left.
 
The visitors' lead grew to as many as 14 (54-40) on a Manley three with 5:13 remaining and Union managed to cruise the rest of the way, with Manley adding nine more points to lead the charge.
 
The Dutchmen had a very efficient night shooting the ball, hitting 23 of 49 shots (46.9 percent) over the 40 minutes. Union hit 13-of-26 shots and out-rebounded SLU 22-11 in the second stanza to pick up the much-needed win.
 
St. Lawrence held a lead for much of the first half, leading by as many as seven points. The Saints led by six (26-20) with 2:07 on the clock, but the Dutchmen closed on an 8-0 run to take a 28-26 lead at the half.
 
Union will look for a North Country sweep tomorrow, when the Dutchmen make the short trip to Potsdam to take on Clarkson University starting at 4 p.m.