Taylor Notches Double-Double Effort Of 16 Points And 12 Rebounds As Men's Basketball Claims Second Straight Triumph With 71-63 Non-League Victory Over Felician In Second Round Of 2005 Stonehill Coca-Cola Tip-Off Classic

November 19, 2005

STONEHILL MEN'S BASKETBALL

Second Round 2005 Stonehill Coca-Cola Tip-Off Classic

Saturday, November 19, 2005

Merkert Gymnasium, Easton, Mass.

FINAL:STONEHILL 71, FELICIAN 63

EASTON, Mass.-- Senior Marquis Taylor (Los Angeles, Calif.) notched a double-double effort of 16 points and 12 rebounds, while fellow senior Chris Kraus (Markham, Ont.) also added 16 points and dished off six assists to lead Stonehill to a 71-63 non-league college men's basketball victory over Felician in second round play of the 2005 Stonehill Coca-Cola Tip-Off Classic Saturday afternoon at Merkert Gymnasium.

The host Skyhawks (2-0) jumped out to a 36-27 lead at the break on the strength of a 52 percent shooting effort from the floor in the opening 20 minutes of action, but the visiting Golden Falcons (0-2) closed that gap to four points at 50-46 with just over nine minutes remaining in the contest. Stonehill then used a 12-0 run over a 3:47 stretch to take a 14-point cushion at 62-48 on the strength of three-pointers by Taylor and Kraus with just over five minutes to play, as Felician got no closer than six points in the closing minutes of action.

Senior Sean Nelson (Milford, Mass.) added 14 points in the win for Stonehill, which also received 11 points and five assists from junior Lance Clarke (Somerville, Mass.). Senior Mike Lauricella (Norwood, N.J.) added eight points and three assists on the day for the Skyhawks, who shot 50 percent (9-18) from three-point range and recorded assists on 21 of their 25 field goals for the contest.

Senior Sadot Williams (Irvington, N.J.) led all scorers with 17 points in the setback for Felician, which also received a double-double effort of 15 points and a game-high 13 rebounds from senior Thomas Johnson (Newark, N.J.). Senior Raffinee Williams (Newark, N.J.) was also in double figures with 13 points for the Golden Falcons, who shot 39 percent from the field but connected on only 7-of-22 attempts from three-point range for the afternoon. Felician held a 37-33 rebounding edge for the contest, but Stonehill outscored the Golden Falcons by a 12-6 margin at the foul line.

Stonehill opens Northeast-10 Conference play on Tuesday evening by hosting fifth-ranked Bentley in its league opener at Merkert Gymnasium beginning at 7:30 p.m., while Felician travels to Fayetteville, N.C. next Friday afternoon to participate in the two-day Fayetteville State Classic beginning at 4:30 p.m.