Saint Rose (3-14/3-10 NE-10) vs. UMass Lowell (12-5/8-5 NE-10)
Wednesday | January 25, 2012 | 7:30 pm
Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium (1,000) | Albany, New York | Game #18
"Student-Athlete Recognition Night"
Sponsored by Hugh Johnson Advisors
Live Video | Live Stats | Media Notes
The Plot: The Golden Knights are aiming to post back-to-back wins, while the River Hawks are looking to run their win streak to four games.
Watch Live Via The Web: Tonight's game is available on
www.gogoldenknights.tv. Join Chad Cooper who calls all the exciting action of Saint Rose basketball.
Last Time Out: Senior forward
Sheldon Griffin buried a 3-pointer from the right wing with three seconds remaining to lead Saint Rose past visiting
Northeast-10 Conference rival Saint Michael's 71-68 Saturday afternoon.
Griffin paid dividends down the stretch for Saint Rose. His tip-in at the 2:38 mark gave the Golden Knights a 66-61 edge. Saint Michael's sophomore guard Mike Holton, Jr. answered with a trey and then freshman forward James Cambronn knocked down a jumper to knot things at 66-66. Griffin then went 1-for-2 from the line to set up an exciting final minute.
Senior guard
Rob Gutierrez led three players in twin-figures for the Golden Knights with a season-high 21 points. Gutierrez additionally became the 25th player in Saint Rose annals to reach the 1,000 point plateau. Griffin wound up with 16 points, seven rebounds and two assists; while sophomore guard
Kareem Thomas added 12 points and four steals in his sixth career start. Holton, Jr. led all players with 23 points for the Purple Knights.
Last Meeting: Saint Rose overcame its biggest deficit of the year to win a game behind an 81-68 victory versus UMass Lowell in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament last March 12 at Bentley University. The Golden Knights shot 57.7 percent (15-for-26) percent in the second half, and held the River Hawks (20-10) to 31.3 percent (10-for-32) shooting throughout that span.
Saint Rose closed out the final 17 minutes on a 39-16 run as UMass Lowell still owned a 10 point, 52-42, cushion after sophomore forward Antonio Bivins threw down a dunk off a baseline drive.
The second stanza proved to be a much more glowing story than the first period when Saint Rose fell behind by as many 12 points on three occasions, before going into the locker room down nine, 43-34, at the break.
Saint Rose ultimately featured a balanced attach with five players in double-figures scoring. Senior forward
Brian Hanuschak led the way behind 20 points and 13 rebounds. Junior guard
Andre Pope finished with 15 points and six assists, while Gutierrez wound up with 14 points in only 19 minutes of playing time due to foul trouble.
Sophomore guard Akeem Williams tossed in a game-high 22 points, 14 in the first half, while junior forwards Matt Welch and Romeo Diaz finished with 15 and 10 respectively for UMass Lowell.
The Series: UMass Lowell leads the all-time series that dates back to the 1990-91 campaign by a 12-8 margin. The squads have split their last four regular-season meetings throughout the previous four years, although the River Hawks have won five of the last seven encounters.
Scouting Saint Rose (3-14/3-10 NE-10): After playing eight of their first 12 conference games on the road, the Golden Knights play seven of their last 10 at home when figuring in last Saturday's win versus Saint Michael's...They are averaging 8.4 more points per-game in Albany than they are elsewhere…Hanuschak is one shy of becoming only the fourth Saint Rose player to register 100 career blocks….Gutierrez leads four double-figure scorers at 13.2 points per-game…He is also eighth in the league at 1.8 steals per-outing...Sophomore center
Dominykas Milka is averaging 11.8 points and 5.8 rebounds in 22.4 minutes of reserve duty, while Pope and Hanuschak are producing 11.3 ppg and 10.4 ppg respectively.
Scouting UMass Lowell (12-5/8-5 NE-10): The River Hawks have won three straight and six of their last seven…They have held four of their opponents to less than 60 points during that span…They are furthermore averaging a league-leading 75.5 points…Williams is the second-leading scorer in the NE-10 at 17.8 ppg.
Scholar-Athlete Night, sponsored by Hugh Johnson Advisors: Sixty-two student-athletes who have been honored throughout the past year for outstanding academic achievement by maintaining at least a 3.30 overall grade-point-average throughout a minimum of two semesters will be honored at halftime of tonight's game. Seven teams who have been similarly recognized for their collective outstanding academic achievement will be honored as well.
White Out Night: Tonight is White Out Night. Everyone in attendance will receive a free t-shirt to "White Out" Nolan Gymansium.
Up Next: Both squads get back to league action Saturday. The Golden Knights have a 3:30 pm date at Franklin Pierce in Rindge, NH; while the River Hawks will welcome New Haven to Costello Gymnasium for a 4:00 pm tip-off.
