Men's Basketball

February 23, 2008 

COLCHESTER, Vt.- With seniors Brian Monahan (Kinderhook, N.Y./Christian Brothers Acad.), James Sorrentine (Pawtucket, R.I./Saint Raphael's Acad.) and Craig Carey (Franklin, Mass./Xaverian) playing their second-to-last home game as Purple Knights, Saint Michael's (7-18, 5-16 NE-10) faced the ominous task of taking on No. 1 ranked Bentley College (26-0, 21-0 NE-10) on Saturday afternoon.  Despite cutting the lead to five in the second half, Saint Michael's fell 85-65, giving Bentley their 53rd-straight regular season contest, setting a new Division-II record.

 For the Falcons, seven players scored at least seven points and eight players grabbed at least two rebounds.  Leading the way was Freshman guard Tom Dowling (Rockville Centre, N.Y./South Side) who tied a season-high 17 points to go along with a game-high 12 boards.  Dowling went 9-of-10 from the line and 4-of-5 from the field in only 24 minutes of play off the Bentley bench.  The Falcons out-rebounded the Purple Knights, 43-27, en route to their record setting win at the Ross Sports Center.  Senior Yusuf Abdul-Ali (Springfield, Mass./New Leadership Charter School) tallied 16 points on the night while grabbing four boards and dishing out four assists.

Trailing 50-45 midway through the second half, the Purple Knights could not withstand a 13-0 run led by Abdul-Ali, who started the run with a lay-up and a deep three-pointer.  Leading the way for Saint Michael's were the seniors, Monahan and Sorrentine who cashed in 17 and 23 points, respectively.  Monahan was held below his season-average of 9.6 rebounds per game, grabbing a team-high six boards for the Purple Knights.

Dropping out of contention for a first round Northeast-10 playoff spot, the Purple Knights will close out their season at home against Southern New Hampshire University on Tuesday, February 26 at 7:30 p.m. at the Ross Sports Center in Colchester.