Taylor Notches Double-Double Effort Of 22 Points And 10 Rebounds As 24th-Ranked Men's Basketball Claims Ninth Straight Victory With 77-63 Northeast-10 Triumph Over 2005 NCAA National Runner-Up Bryant

January 7, 2006

STONEHILL MEN'S BASKETBALL

Saturday, January 7, 2006

Chace Athletic Center, Smithfield, R.I.

FINAL:STONEHILL 77, BRYANT 63

SMITHFIELD, R.I.-- Senior Marquis Taylor (Los Angeles, Calif.) notched his 11th career double-double with 22 points and 10 rebounds to lead four players in double figures as 24th-ranked Stonehill extended its winning streak to nine straight with a 77-63 Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball victory over 2005 NCAA national runner-up Bryant Saturday afternoon at the Chace Athletic Center.

The visiting Skyhawks, off to their best overall start in 17 years at 11-1 and their best conference start in 25 years at 7-1 in Northeast-10 play, scored 10 of the game's first 12 points and led by as many as 14 points in the opening 20 minutes of play en route to a 40-28 advantage at the break. Stonehill extended that edge to 17 points (62-45) with10:42 to play in the contest on a jumper by junior Lance Clarke (Somerville, Mass.), but the host Bulldogs (9-4, 4-4 Northeast-10) scored eight quick unanswered points to close their deficit to nine and further whittled that margin to seven (69-62) on a three-pointer by senior John Williams (Springfield, Mass.). The Skyhawks then ended the game by scoring eight of the final nine points over a 3:45 stretch, as a lay-in and two free throws by senior Chris Kraus (Markham, Ont.) helped ice the Stonehill triumph.

Senior Sean Nelson (Milford, Mass.) added 15 points and seven rebounds in the win for Stonehill, which also received 15 points and four assists from Kraus and 10 points and five assists from Clarke. Freshman Nick Smith (Colonia, N.J.) chipped in with nine points off the bench for the Skyhawks, who also received six points from junior Soap Toun (Cranston, R.I.). The visitors shot 54 percent from the field for the contest and canned 12 three-pointers in posting their fourth straight series victory over Bryant.

Williams paced the Bulldogs in the scoring column with 17 points, while sophomore Jon Ezeokoli (South Orange, N.J.) added 12 points for the hosts, who also received 10 points, six rebounds and four steals from junior Dan Hammond (Brunswick, Maine). Junior Nathaniel Sudlow (Brooklyn, N.Y.) netted eight points on the day for Bryant, which shot 33 percent from the floor (25 percent in the first half alone) and connected on only 5-of-16 three-point attempts. The Bulldogs recorded only four assists on 20 field goals and committed 15 turnovers that led to 18 Stonehill points.

Stonehill hosts Assumption in a Northeast-10 outing on Tuesday evening at Merkert Gymnasium beginning at 7:30 p.m., while Bryant travels to North Andover, Mass. on Tuesday evening to take on Merrimack in a Northeast-10 match-up that also begins at 7:30 p.m.