College Hoops: St. Michael’s Men and Women Swept at Assumption

Courtesy St. Michael’s Sports Information

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WORCESTER, MA. — The Saint Michael’s College men’s basketball team lost at Assumption College, 93-74, on Tuesday evening during Northeast-10 Conference play in Laska Gym. The Purple Knights remain 2.5 games out of the fourth and final NE10 Northeast Division postseason position with four games to play.

RECORDS
· Saint Michael’s (7-15, 4-11 NE10), Assumption (12-11, 6-10 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL’S LEADERS
· First-year Kasai Brown (Brooklyn, N.Y./Millbrook School), 19 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists
· Senior Jordan Guzman (Staten Island, N.Y./Xaverian), 16 points, 2 assists, 4-for-9 three-pointers
· Sophomore Jontai Williams (Bronx, N.Y./Cardinal Hayes), 13 points (tied career high), 5-for-5 field goals, 3-for-3 three-pointers
· Junior Walker Storey (Shelburne, Vt./Champlain Valley Union), 10 points, 4-for-6 field goals, 2-for-4 three-pointers
· Redshirt junior Thomas Jackson III (Middletown, Conn./Holderness School), 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
· Junior Alvi Rodriguez (Madrid, Spain/La Salle Maravillas), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals

OPPONENT LEADERS
· First-year Isiah Gaiter, 20 points, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, 7-for-11 field goals
· Redshirt junior Jordan White, 19 points, 10 rebounds, 4-for-5 three-pointers
· Junior Matthew Kelly, 19 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, 3-for-4 three-pointers
· Sophomore Cal Connelly, 13 points, 3 assists, 3-for-5 three-pointers
· Redshirt junior Malik Brown, 12 points

GAME FACTS
· The Purple Knights moved to 4-4 in their last eight games, remaining within 2.5 games of the fifth and final postseason berth in the NE10 Northeast Division with four games to go.
· Both teams shot well from three-point range, with the Purple and Gold 13-for-27 (48.1%) to the Greyhounds’ 12-for-25 (48.0%) showing. While Saint Michael’s only committed four more turnovers (15) than Assumption (11), the Greyhounds parlayed that into a 28-12 scoring advantage off of giveaways.

THE ACTION
· White knocked down a three-pointer 16 seconds into the game to give Assumption the lead, but Kasai Brown’s triple knotted the teams at 5-5 by 18:24 of the opening half.
· Gaiter scored the next five points to give the hosts the lead for good, sparking a 16-6 run around a pair of Guzman threes. White’s two free throws made it 21-11 by 13:58.
· With his team still down 10, Williams netted 10 points himself in a matter of 5:25 to key a 16-7 run that brought Saint Michael’s within 33-32 with 5:26 to go.
· The Greyhounds slowly built their lead back to nine, with Malik Brown converting consecutive hoops to cap a 10-2 stretch, and his lay-in at 1:06 sent the hosts into the locker room up 45-37.
· Five Assumption players scored in a 14-4 run that started the second half, extending the lead to 59-41 on Malik Brown’s hoop at 13:50.
· Saint Michael’s scored the next 10 points in just 49 seconds to trim the deficit to eight, with Guzman scoring half the points and the visitors drawing within 59-51 on Jackson’s triple at 12:26.
· Assumption responded with a 25-8 run that White capped with a triple at 5:14, pushing the lead to 84-59.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL’S GAME
· Saturday vs. Franklin Pierce University, 3:30 p.m.

WORCESTER, Mass. – The Saint Michael’s College women’s basketball team lost a 53-40 decision at Assumption College during Northeast-10 Conference play on Tuesday in Laska Gym.

RECORDS
· Saint Michael’s (8-13, 2-13 NE10), Assumption (13-11, 7-9 NE10)

SAINT MICHAEL’S LEADERS
· Junior Nicole Anderson (Kittery Point, Maine/Marianapolis Prep), 9 points, 2 steals
· Senior Taylor Miller (Falmouth, Mass./Falmouth), 7 points, 11 rebounds, 3 blocks
· Senior Alyssa Breunig (Trumbull, Conn./Trumbull), 6 rebounds, 3 steals, 2 blocks
· Sophomore Nicole Ladas (Glastonbury, Conn./Tilton School), 5 points, 4 rebounds
· Senior Casey Evans (Londonderry, N.H./Saint Andrew’s School), 6 rebounds in 8 minutes
· First-year Anika Kapral (Dummerston, Vt./Vermont Academy), 5 rebounds

OPPONENT LEADERS
· Senior Brianna Capacchione, 19 points, 3-for-7 three-pointers
· Junior Temi Falaye, 11 points, 10 rebounds, 4 blocks
· Sophomore Emme Poulin, 9 points
· Junior Meghan Reen, 7 assists, 5 steals

GAME FACTS
· Miller upped her career blocks total to 112, breaking a tie with Amy Pitchers ’08 for sixth in program history.
· Saint Michael’s held a 42-41 rebounding edge, including 9-8 on the offensive glass. The visitors put forth a 22-20 lead in paint points.

THE ACTION
· Ladas scored her team’s first five points, and neither squad led by more than two until Capacchione’s three-pointer at 5:25 of the first period sparked a 5-0 spurt, giving Assumption a 12-7 lead.
· Sophomore Emma MacDonough’s (South Burlington, Vt./South Burlington) put-back before the final buzzer had Saint Michael’s within 14-11 heading into the second period, and Anderson’s lay-in at 9:25 cut the deficit to one.
· Between Poulin’s three at 7:12 of the second quarter and Capaccione’s lay-in with 4:18 remaining in the third quarter, Assumption rattled off a 30-4 run, taking command with a 44-17 lead.
· Anderson scored five points in a 7-1 response before the Greyhound advantage was extended to 49-24 with 8:01 left in regulation.
· Saint Michael’s attempted to put together a furious rally in the closing minutes, rattling off a 16-4 run to trim the hole to 53-40 with 16 seconds left on first-year Kyara Triblet’s (Niskayuna, N.Y./Colonie Central) lay-in from senior Cassandra Falone’s (Chatham, N.J./Chatham) feed, but the visitors came no closer.

NEXT SAINT MICHAEL’S GAME
· Saturday vs. Franklin Pierce University, 1:30 p.m.
· The Purple Knights host a SLAMT1D Diabetes Awareness Game and alumnae event during the contest.