Box Score SPRINGFIELD, MA –The College of Saint Rose opened up an 18-7 lead throughout the opening 15 minutes and never looked back en route to a 65-41 victory at Northeast-10 Conference rival American International this afternoon. The Golden Knights (1-8/1-6 NE-10) generated 20 points off of 24 turnovers by the Yellow Jackets (4-6/2-5 NE-10), coughed it up just 11 times themselves, and held their hosts to 28.8 percent (15-for-52) shooting en route to their first victory of the year.

Senior guard Rob Gutierrez paced four Saint Rose players in double-figures with 19 points. Gutierrez went 8-for-13 from the floor and also tied his career-high with five assists to go along with two steals.

Senior forward Sheldon Griffin wound up with 11 points and six boards, while sophomore guard Kareem Thomas and sophomore center Dominykas Milka were big factors off the bench. Thomas had 13 points, five boards and four assists; while Milka contributed 10 points and six caroms.

The Golden Knights held American International to 16, first half points that allowed them to take a 28-16 lead at the break. They then opened the second stanza with an 18-5 jaunt that put them in the driver's seat with a 46-21 cushion with 11:54 remaining.

Gutierrez started the period off by finishing a fastbreak with a layup and then Thomas capped the run by draining a jumper. Saint Rose eventually pushed its advantage to as many as 31 points, 54-23, when sophomore forward Jin Hong knocked down a jumper off a Thomas feed.

For American International, sophomore guard Janek Schmidkuntz tossed in nine points behind a 3-for-9 shooting effort from the arc.

Looking ahead, the Golden Knights have the week off due to final exams taking place on campus. They'll return to action next weekend at the Adelphi Holiday Tournament on Long Island. Saint Rose will meet Molloy at 1:00 pm Saturday and then face Bloomfield at 12:00 pm Sunday. Meanwhile, the Yellow Jackets have a 7:00 pm non-league tilt at Dowling on Wednesday.