Taylor Notches 15th Career Double-Double With 23 Points And 13 Rebounds As 15th-Ranked Men's Basketball Drops 77-61 Decision To Saint Anselm In 2006 Northeast-10 Championship Game

March 4, 2006

STONEHILL MEN'S BASKETBALL

2006 Northeast-10 Conference Championship

Saturday, March 4, 2006

Merkert Gymnasium, Easton, Mass.

FINAL:SAINT ANSELM 77, STONEHILL 61

EASTON, Mass.-- Tournament Most Valuable Player Jim Moore (Worcester, Mass.) scored 25 points and grabbed six rebounds as fourth-seeded Saint Anselm captured its second straight and seventh overall Northeast-10 Conference Men's Basketball tournament title with a 77-61 victory over second-seeded and 15th-ranked Stonehill in the 2006 championship contest Saturday afternoon at Merkert Gymnasium.

The visiting Hawks, now 23-7 overall, blistered the nets at a 71 percent clip in the first eight-plus minutes of play, connecting on seven of their first eight three-point attempts to race out to a 25-8 advantage with 11:47 remaining in the first half. Saint Anselm maintained that double-digit edge for the remainder of the half, as the host Skyhawks, now 23-6 overall, sliced the margin to 13 points before the Hawks took a 41-24 advantage at the break.

Saint Anselm's lead ballooned to 19 points (48-29) just 3:02 into the second half before Stonehill used a 15-4 run over a 5:39 stretch to close its deficit to two possessions at 52-46 on a three-pointer by senior Chris Kraus (Markham, Ont.) with 11:19 to play, but the Hawks answered by scoring 17 of the game's next 18 points over the next six-plus minutes of action, grabbing their largest lead of the afternoon at 68-47 on a pair of free throws by senior Matt Cahill (Bridgewater, Mass.) with 4:57 to play and grab the title.

Moore, who joins American International's Mario Elie, Assumption's Bryan Moore and UMass Lowell's Elad Inbar as the only two-time tournament MVP's in conference history, was joined at the 25-point plateau by senior Jim Holsworth (Bogota, N.J.), as Moore, Holswoth and Cahill (16 points) accounted for 66 of Saint Anselm's 77 points and all 11 of the Hawks' three-pointers on the afternoon. Senior Darlington Okerulu (Jersey City, N.J.) added nine points and eight boards for the visitors, who shot 41 percent from the field and held a 34-30 rebounding edge in avenging a pair of regular season setbacks to Stonehill by a combined seven points.

Senior Marquis Taylor (Los Angeles, Calif.) led the way for the Skyhawks with his 15th career double-double effort of 23 points and 13 rebounds, while Kraus finished with 13 points and three assists in the setback for the hosts. Junior Lance Clarke (Somerville, Mass.) and senior Sean Nelson (Milford, Mass.) were also in double figures with 12 and 10 points, respectively, for Stonehill, which shot 47 percent from the field (55 percent in the second half) but hurt itself with 16 turnovers and were outscored by a 33-18 margin from behind the arc for the contest.

Saint Anselm earns the Northeast-10's automatic bid into the 2006 NCAA Division II Championships, as Stonehill will earn an at-large berth when selections to the 64-team field are announced Sunday evening at 10:30 p.m.