TELEGRAM: Greyhound men leave Saint Rose dazed in basketball win!

December 4, 2008

By Rick Eggleston

CORRESPONDENT

Worcester Telegram & Gazette

WORCESTER, Mass. --- The last time Assumption and Saint Rose tipped off, it was a knock-down, drag-out fight to the finish in last season's semifinals of the NCAA Division 2 Northeast Regionals.

What a difference a year makes as both teams, having sustained significant graduation losses, are scrapping to make names for themselves in the unforgiving Northeast-10 Conference.

The Greyhounds - backed by seniors Mitch Bajema (17 points), Groton's own Greg Twomey (15) and Patrick Shea (14) - raced past the young but scappy Golden Knights, 86-74, at Laska Gym.

"They've lost a lot of guys, we've lost a lot of guys," said Assumption coach Serge DeBari. "But even with the three seniors we have, it's more than they have."

That, in the end, proved to be all the Greyhounds (4-3, 3-2) would need. Bajema, Twomey and Shea combined for 46 points to pace a balanced scoring attack that was led by sophomore forward Savoy Fraine's team-high 19 points.

Fraine netted 11 of his points in the first half, and went 10 for 10 at the free-throw line. Sutton native Mike Baldarelli chipped in 10 points and Tobin Haase came off the bench to add 11. Saint Rose junior Jermaine Clark led all scorers with 24 points.

After going back and forth to start the game, Assumption mounted a 6-0 run - capped by the second of five 3-pointers by Bajema - to push its lead to 22-17 with 9:50 left in the first half.

The Golden Knights answered with a 7-0 run of their own to claim their first and only lead of the game, 24-23, on Brian Hanuschak's layup.

Hindering the Greyhounds' offensive effort was an effective double-team that limited the number of shots for Twomey. The team's scoring leader was held scoreless in the first half.

"He doesn't have the mentality of a leading scorer, so he's not always looking to shoot the ball - he's always deferring to the other guys," De Bari said. "(Saint Rose) had some guys on him and did the job containing him and forcing it to the weak side."

But Bajema and Fraine kept the Knights at bay as the Hounds led, 39-30, at the half.

Assumption roared into the second half on a 14-4 run for a 53-34 lead that saw Twomey get into the act by knocking down his first bucket, a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

The Golden Knights (2-4, 1-2) rallied to pull within 9 on with 10:33 left to play, but the Greyhounds responded with a 14-9 run ignited by a Shea 3-pointer.