Men's Basketball

January 12, 2008

Men's Basketball Drops Heart-Breaker To Saint Anselm, 75-71


Purple Knights give up 13-point run to end game and drop heart-breaker

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

FOR MORE INFORMATION

Contact: Will Rothermel

Phone: (802)-654-2929

COLCHESTER, Vt.- Despite being up 71-62 with 2:33 left in the second half, the Saint Michael's men's basketball team (6-8, 4-6 NE-10) gave up 13 unanswered points, continuing their free fall losing their seventh straight contests to Saint Anselm (7-7, 5-5 NE-10), 75-71. Sophomore Ryan Rodrigues (Acushnet, Mass./New Bedford) led all scorers with 22 points while senior co-captain Brian Monahan (Kinderhook, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy) scored 17 points and grabbed a game-high 14 boards.

For Saint Anselm, University of New Hampshire-transfer, senior Chris Vetrano (Andover, Mass./UNH) sparked the Hawks' comeback with 18 points on 7-12 shooting, seven assists and five steals. Brother and sophomore Greg Vetrano (Andover, Mass./Andover) chipped in 11 points on 9-12 from the stripe while senior Junior Mitchell (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) also came off the bench to score 11 points and snatch six boards.

As the Purple descend the Northeast-10 rankings, Monahan struggled from the field shooting 6-19 while fellow senior co-captain James Sorrentine (Pawtucket, R.I./Saint Raphael's) was hand-cuffed by a variety of Hawks defenders to score three points on 0-6 shooting from the field. Off the bench, Rodrigues shot a blistering 7-10 and junior Chris White (Windham, N.H./Salem) added 11 points and six boards.

The Purple Knights turned the ball over 10 times in the second half, leading to the Saint Anselm surge late in the second half.

Saint Michael's returns to the road for a match up with Merrimack on Wednesday, January 16 at 7:30 p.m. after the women tip off at 5:30 p.m.

##PURPLE KNIGHTS###