Men's Basketball Returns Nine Letterwinners And Three Starters From 20-Win Squad, Opens 2005-2006 Campaign Over Weekend By Hosting Stonehill Coca-Cola Tip-Off Classic

November 17, 2005

2005-2006 Stonehill College Men's Basketball

4:00 p.m. EST

LET THE GAMES BEGIN: Stonehill begins its 2005-2006 campaign this weekend as the Skyhawks square off with the Molloy Lions and the Felician Golden Falcons in the 2005 Stonehill Coca-Cola Tip-Off Classic. Stonehill welcomes back nine letterwinners and three starters from a squad that posted the program's first 20-win season in eight years last winter, as the Skyhawks finished tied for third in the final Northeast-10 Conference standings. Molloy opened its 2005-2006 campaign on Tuesday evening with a 105-74 non-league setback to Pace in New York City, while Felician will open its season Friday evening in taking on Mercyhurst, the other participant in this year's Coca-Cola Tip-Off Classic.

THE SKYHAWKS: Senior Marquis Taylor (Los Angeles, Calif./Naval Prep) is Stonehill's leading returning scorer and rebounder at 14.8 ppg and 6.6 rpg, while fellow senior Chris Kraus (Markham, Ont./Markham District) added 10.2 points and 4.5 assists per contest. Senior co-captain Sean Nelson (Milford, Mass./Milford) added 5.6 ppg and 3.4 rpg off the bench for the Skyhawks a year ago.

THE LIONS: Sophomore Glenn Martin leads Molloy in scoring at 27 ppg, while sophomores Mark Pierre and Curtis Arnold follow at 12 ppg. Junior Keith Tilley adds 10 ppg for the Lions, who are led in rebounding by sophomore Karim McKenzie's eight caroms per contest.

THE GOLDEN FALCONS: Senior Sadot Williams averaged 13.9 ppg for Felician last season, while fellow senior Thomas Johnson added 11.7 ppg and 6.8 rpg for the Golden Falcons.

HEAD COACH DAVID McLAUGHLIN: David McLaughlin begins his third season as Head Men's Basketball Coach at Stonehill College this weekend. A 1997 graduate of Colby, McLaughlin has guided the Skyhawks to a 25-20 (.556) mark during his tenure after previously serving as an assistant coach. McLaughlin, who is assisted by Derik Malone, Josh Meyer and Mike Harding, has never previously faced either Molloy or Felician during his career.

AYE, AYE CAPTAINS: Seniors Mike Lauricella (Norwood, N.J./Don Bosco) and Sean Nelson (Milford, Mass./Milford) have been named as co-captains for the 2005-2006 edition of Stonehill men's basketball. Lauricella, who also served as a Skyhawk captain last season, averaged 2.3 points and 2.2 rebounds off the bench last season, while Nelson added 5.6 points and 3.4 caroms per contest in a reserve role as well last winter for Stonehill.

SKYHAWK TALK: Prior to last season, Stonehill's last 20-win campaign came in 1997-98 when the Chieftains won the Northeast-10 regular season crown en route to a berth in the NCAA Division II "Sweet Sixteen" Stonehill got off to a 3-0 start for the second straight season last winter and became the second straight Northeast-10 team to capture the championship of the Mercyhurst Tip-Off Classic, as Assumption turned the trick in 2003The Skyhawks have eclipsed the 80-point plateau on 16 occasions in McLaughlin's 45-game tenure as head coach.

SKYHAWKS ON THE WEB: For the second straight season, Stonehill basketball can be accessed on the world wide web through Free Teamline, a service of TRZ Sports of Kent, Ohio. A total of 15 Skyhawk regular season men's basketball broadcasts will be available throughout the 2005-2006 season via Free Teamline by accessing the official Stonehill Athletics website at www.stonehillskyhawks.com, powered by Presto Sports. Returning to call all of action of Stonehill basketball once again this winter is the tandem of Charlie Bergeron and Brian Buckley, who have served as the voices of Skyhawk Basketball since 1998.

WHO'S NEXT: Stonehill opens Northeast-10 Conference play on Tuesday, November 22nd when the Skyhawks entertain defending league champion Bentley here at Merkert Gymnasium, with tip-off set for 7:30 p.m. EST.