ALBANY, N.Y. American International College senior forward Oscar Assie (Ansonia, Conn.) tallied a double-double, but men's basketball dropped its season opener Wednesday night at the College of Saint Rose in Northeast-10 play at Nolan Gymnasium, 82-61.
With the loss AIC opens the season 0-1, while with the win, St. Rose improves to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in league play.
The Yellow Jackets got off to a slow start in the season opening game, trailing the Knights early, 15-6. St. Rose then used runs of seven and eight points late in the half to gap the Jackets and take a commanding lead into the intermission, 46-27. AIC shot just over 28 percent from the floor in the opening 20 minutes, compared to the Knights 62.1 percent shooting.
Out of the break and in a 19-point hole, AIC senior forward Trahmier Burrell (Albany, N.Y.) fired off the first five of his teams points. Freshman Bruce Spruell (Hanover, Md.) then telegraphed a Knight pass and raced off down court, finishing with a left-handed slam to cut the deficit to 20, 54-34 in the early stage of the half.
After St. Rose jacked up consecutive three's, Assie and Cameron Dobbs (Albany, N.Y.) scored back-to-back buckets to help regain composure. The Golden Knights hit nine timely three's in the contest, shooting at a 45.0 percent clip from beyond the arc.
At the 9:05 mark, Dobbs hit a three to bring the Jackets with 13, 66-53, the closest AIC had been in 16:06 of game-play, but the Golden Knights quickly halted the rally, rattling off six straight points to extend the advantage back to 19 points with just over six minutes remaining.
The local products, Burrell and Dobbs finished with 14 and 13 points receptively. Assie was clutch from the floor, converting on 5-7 shots, but struggled from the foul line (3-10).
St. Rose had five players record double digit nights led by Max Weaver's 16.
The Yellow Jackets return to action Saturday, Nov. 21 the home opener against NE-10 foe Adelphi University. Tip-off with the Panthers is slated for 3:30 p.m. at Henry A. Butova Gymnasium.
