Men's Basketball

January 20, 2010

Men's Basketball Wins Third Straight, 72-66, Versus New Haven


Box score: http://www.smcathletics.com/sports/mbkb/2009-10/stats/munhstm.htm.

COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College men's basketball team (8-8, 4-8 Northeast-10 Conference) earned its third straight win, 72-66, against the University of New Haven on Wednesday evening at the Ross Sports Center.

For the Purple Knights, freshman Travis Warech (Pine Brook, N.J./Montville) led a balanced scoring attack with 14 points. Sophomore Sam Cieplicki (South Burlington, Vt./New Hampton (N.H.) School) added 12 points and six rebounds, making 4-of-5 shots from the field. Freshman Derek Knutty (Rocklin, Calif./Whitney) notched 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor, while junior Nate Birr (Burnsville, Minn./Saint Thomas Academy) had a solid all-around game with 11 points and eight assists. Sophomore Tyler Schilling (Excelsior, Minn./Minnetonka) added nine points and eight rebounds as Saint Michael's shot a season-high 60 percent from the field (28-of-47) and outrebounded New Haven 31-26.

For New Haven (2-14, 2-10 NE-10), senior Darryl Greene (Clinton, Md.) scored a game-high 27 points on 10-of-16 shooting from the field. Junior Robert Jamerson (Forestville, Md.) added 17 points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor, while senior Cassius Chaney (Baltimore, Md.) tallied 11 points and a team-best nine rebounds.

New Haven led just twice in the contest, the last time at 13-12 after a Chaney free throw with 12:13 to go in the first half. Saint Michael???s then went on a 5-0 run to take the lead for good, and stretched its lead to a dozen points later in the period before settling for a 37-31 halftime advantage.

The Purple Knights appeared to have the game at hand early in the second half, as the hosts pushed their lead to 16 points, 47-31, with 17 minutes remaining. Saint Michael's still had a 12-point lead, 60-48, with 8:51 to go, but the Chargers rallied with a 13-2 run over the next five minutes to cut their deficit to 62-61 with four minutes left. New Haven, however, missed a jumper seconds later that would have eliminated the Purple Knights??? lead, and Saint Michael's scored the next five points to restore order and improve to 5-4 at home this season.

Saint Michael's returns to action on Saturday, as the Purple Knights visit Assumption College for a 1:30 p.m. contest. New Haven hosts Saint Anselm College on Saturday at 2 p.m.

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