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ERIE, Pa. - The Gannon men's basketball team rallied from a 15-point second-half deficit, but a potential game-tying three-pointer at the buzzer bounced off the rim as the Golden Knights dropped a 65-62 decision to Le Moyne during the semifinals of the 30th annual Gary Miller Classic Friday night at the Hammermill Center.

Le Moyne will face Wheeling Jesuit in Saturday's championship game at 7:30 p.m. The Cardinals completed a comeback from 15 points down in the second half to down Alderson-Broaddus 80-71 during the opener. Gannon will square off against the Battlers in the consolation game at 5:30 p.m.

Gannon trailed 50-35 with less than 10 minutes to play in regulation, before staging a furious comeback. The Golden Knights pulled within single digits at 54-45 on Tee Talley's (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) old-fashion three-point play with 7:20 remaining.

Le Moyne, which owns a 75-66 exhibition victory against NCAA Division I Monmouth earlier this season, still appeared to be in control with a 63-53 lead following Nate Champion's lay-up with 2:10 left. Raphell Thomas-Edwards (Leicester, England/The Gateway School) then ignited a late burst during a hectic final two minutes with a lay-up while being fouled. Two offensive rebounds led to a pair of Thomas-Edwards free throws four seconds later, cutting the deficit to 63-57.

Talley followed with a steal and canned two more free throws after being fouled on a fast break with 1:33 still showing on the clock. Champion answered with two freebies of his own with 26 seconds remaining. But Talley was up to the challenge again, drilling a three-pointer with 17 seconds left to bring the Golden Knights within 65-62.

With all five Golden Knights pressing after the trey, Adam Blazek (Erie, Pa./Cathedral) stole the in-bound pass with nine seconds remaining. Gannon worked the ball back to Talley, but his contested three-point attempt bounced off the rim as the horn sounded.

In its first trip to the Hammermill Center since the 1993-94 campaign, Le Moyne slowly built an eight-point lead 13 minutes into the contest. The Dolphins held a slight 27-24 edge, before scoring the final five points of the half on a dunk by Jim Janson and a three-point play by Qwadere Lovell with 20 seconds left. The late blitz sent the visitors into the break with a 32-24 advantage.

Le Moyne never relinquished that lead during the second half. The Dolphins bumped their lead into double digits six times during the final stanza. However, Gannon rallied all six times to cut the difference back to single digits.

Blazek led Gannon's offensive output with 17 points, five rebounds and four steals. Thomas-Edwards and Talley netted 13 and 11 points off the bench, respectively. The duo helped the Golden Knights produce a 24-7 edge in bench points. C.J. Oldham (Solon, Ohio/Solon) completed the double-digit group with his first career double-double, posting 10 points and a career-high 11 rebounds.

Gannon shot 34.9 percent (22-63) from the field, 17.9 percent (5-28) from three-point range and 86.7 percent (13-15) from the free throw line.

Janson was nearly unstoppable for Le Moyne. The 6-foot-11, 230-pound graduate student poured in 28 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, hitting 12-of-16 attempts. Champion also produced a double-double with 13 points and 10 assists. Lovell chipped in 11 points.

Le Moyne shot 53.3 percent (24-45) from the floor, 0 percent (0-6) from behind the arc and 65.4 percent (17-26) from the charity stripe.

In Friday's first semifinal, Wheeling Jesuit overcame a 52-37 deficit in the final 14 minutes to earn an 80-71 victory. The Cardinals rattled off a 26-8 run during the span of six minutes and 43 seconds to grab a lead they would never lose hold of. In all, WJU out-scored Alderson-Broaddus 41-17 during the final 13 minutes and 29 seconds.

Justin Fritts led four Cardinals in double digits with 25 points. Richard Lemon topped Alderson-Broaddus with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Wheeling Jesuit shot 56.3 percent (27-48) from the floor, including a 70-percent (14-20) clip during the second half.

Gannon, which had won five of the last seven Gary Miller Classics and 11 of the last 14, dropped to 1-2 with its second consecutive loss. It was only the Golden Knights' fifth loss in 27 first-round games during the tournament's current format. Le Moyne improved to 3-2.

Head coach John T. Reilly's club will face Alderson-Broaddus in Saturday's consolation game at 5:30 p.m., followed by Wheeling Jesuit and Le Moyne in the championship game at 7:30 p.m. The consolation affair will be the first meeting between Gannon and Alderson-Broaddus since the Golden Knights' 67-65 win during the second round of the 2009 NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional hosted at the Hammermill Center.