ALBANY, N.Y. (January 24, 2006) – The Saint Rose men's basketball team (16-4/12-3 NE-10), ranked #24 in the latest NABC/Division II poll that was released earlier today, held their fifth straight opponent to less than 60 points en route to tonight’s 83-55 victory versus American International at the Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium.

Saint Rose, unbeaten at home at 11-0 this year, turned 19 American International turnovers into 29 points and broke the game open with a 23-4 run at the 12:06 mark of the second half. The jaunt transformed a four point, 51-47 advantage into a 23 point, 74-51 cushion with 3:23 remaining that all but sealed the Golden Knights seventh consecutive win.

Saint Rose shot 56.4 percent (31-for-55) from the field, including 53.8 percent (7-for-13) from the arc, and held the Yellow Jackets (9-9/5-8 NE-10) to 40.0 percent (22-for-55) shooting. American International did not help its cause by converting only 17.6 percent (3-for-17) of its shots from international waters.

Senior guard Brad Shove (Pittsfield, MA/Pittsfield) paced four Saint Rose starters in double-figures scoring with 22 points.

Fellow senior guard Terrance King (Hempstead, NY/Hempstead) tossed in 15 points and handed out five assists. Sophomore guard Steve Dagostino (Guilderland, NY/Guilderland) had 11 points and five helpers while junior forward Clayton Longmire (Rochester, NY/Gates-Chili) was in double-figures scoring for the sixth straight time with 11 of his own.

Senior guard John Huggins (Philadelphia, PA/Roman Catholic) led American International with 16 points, while junior forward Jenar Harrison (Queens, NY/Broward CC) and senior forward Dexter Gregory (Paterson, NJ/Cheyney University) tossed in 11 apiece.

Dagostino ignited the Saint Rose run with a 3-pointer and Shove capped it by following a fastbreak dunk by junior forward Michael Epperson (Bronx, NY/Monsignor Scanlan) with a jumper.

 

AIC returns to action Thursday when it entertains Pace.