Taylor Enjoys Grand Evening In Becoming 30th Member Of 1,000 Point Club As 10th-Ranked Men's Basketball Celebrates Highest National Ranking Ever With 82-64 Northeast-10 Victory Over Assumption

January 10, 2006

STONEHILL MEN'S BASKETBALL

Tuesday, January 10, 2006

Merkert Gymnasium, Easton, Mass.

FINAL:STONEHILL 82, ASSUMPTION 64

EASTON, Mass.-- Senior Marquis Taylor (Los Angeles, Calif.) scored 15 points and became the 30th player in school history to reach the 1,000 career point plateau and Stonehill celebrated its first top 10 ranking ever with an 82-64 Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball victory over Assumption Tuesday evening at Merkert Gymnasium.

Junior Lance Clarke (Somerville, Mass.) led all scorers with 20 points in the triumph for the host Skyhawks, who stand at 12-1 overall and 8-1 in Northeast-10 play after moving up to the #10 spot in the National Association of Basketball Coaches Division II national rankings earlier in the day. Stonehill, which has matched its longest win streak in 10 years with its 10th straight victory, jumped out to an early 15-2 advantage before settling for a 10-point cushion (36-26) at the break. The visiting Greyhounds (3-12, 1-9 Northeast-10) scored the first bucket of the second half to close to within eight, but the Skyhawks scored 15 of the game's next 21 points to open up a 19-point cushion at 51-32 with 14:07 remaining and built that margin to as much as 28 points in the final 6:10 of play.

Senior Sean Nelson (Milford, Mass.) added a double-double effort of 11 points and 10 rebounds in the triumph for Stonehill, which also received nine points from junior Soap Toun (Cranston, R.I.) as well as eight points each from senior Chris Kraus (Markham, Ont.) and freshman Colin Scanlon (Centreville, Va.). Senior Mike Lauricella (Norwood, N.J.) dished out eight assists and recorded five steals for the Skyhawks, who overcame a 4 2 percent shooting effort and canned eight three-pointers, including five from Clarke, and recording 13 steals on the night.

Freshman Justin Dick (Dorchester, Mass.) paced Assumption in the scoring column with 16 points and nine rebounds, while sophomore Corey Diethorn (Pittsburgh, Pa.) added 14 points for the Greyhounds, who also received 10 points from sophomore Leroy Byron (Worcester, Mass.). Sophomore Greg Twomey (Groton, Mass.) grabbed eight rebounds for the visitors, who shot 38 percent from the field but made just 3-of-16 attempts from behind the arc while committing 18 turnovers for the contest.

Stonehill travels to Colchester, Vt. on Saturday afternoon to take on Saint Michael's in a Northeast-10 outing that begins at 3:30 p.m., while Assumption hosts Bryant in a Northeast-10 match-up on Saturday afternoon in Worcester, Mass. that also begins at 3:30 p.m.