ALBANY – The College of Saint Rose men’s basketball team dropped its second straight home opener, after winning its previous dozen, with a 69-64 loss to visiting Philadelphia University this afternoon at the Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium. The Rams (1-0), who brought back four starters from last year’s 22-12 squad, made the most of their chances from the free throw line by going 23-for-30. The Golden Knights also shot well from the stripe, but got there only half the time with a 10-for-14 effort.
Junior guard
Jermaine Clark tossed in 17 points and freshman guard
Shea Bromirski added 15 for Saint Rose (0-1) in his collegiate debut.
Philadelphia junior guard Malcolm Ingram lived up to his preseason All-America billing by tossing in 22 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, while junior guard Russell Frederick scored 20 of his game-high 27 points in the second half by going 13-for-14 from the charity stripe throughout the final 20 minutes.
It was anybody’s ballgame most of the afternoon with 11 ties and 16 lead changes. Furthermore, neither club was able to build more than a five point advantage. Saint Rose had its largest lead at 49-44 following a Clark jumper with 11:18 remaining. Frederick then canned a 3-pointer at the other end, before Saint Rose senior guard
Josh Pelletier hit a jumper of his own to make it 51-47 Saint Rose.
However, Saint Rose turned the ball over on the ensuing inbounds pass. Frederick took full advantage of the miscue by coming up with a steal and finishing off a three-point play that whittled the Saint Rose lead to 51-50 with 10:25 left. There were four more ties throughout the next six minutes, but Frederick canned the first of his eight straight free throws in the final 2:49 to put Philadelphia ahead to stay at 62-60.
The Golden Knights will play their Northeast-10 Conference opener on Wednesday at Le Moyne. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 pm following the women’s portion of the league doubleheader. Time Warner Sports in Syracuse is televising both games, which will also be aired live on TW3 in the Albany market.
Box Score