Saint Michael's Men's Basketball Earns First Win Of Season, 66-56, Versus Caldwell

EASTON, Mass. - The Saint Michael's College men's basketball team (1-1) picked up its first win of the season on Saturday afternoon, besting Caldwell College, 66-56, to complete play at the Stonehill College Tip-Off Classic.

Sophomore Travis Warech (Pine Brook, N.J./Montville) netted a game-high 20 points for the Purple Knights, his second straight game with at least 20 points to open the season. Freshman Michael Holton, Jr. (Portland, Ore./Sunset/The Winchendon School) contributed 14 points and four assists in the win, while junior Tyler Schilling (Excelsior, Minn./Minnetonka) posted his second straight double-double with 12 points and a game-best 10 rebounds.

For Caldwell (0-2), Peter Diffley had a team-best 16 points and eight rebounds, while Antonio Brimley added 12 points and a game-high four steals.

Caldwell held its last lead, 41-40, with 13:41 left in the second half, but a layup by Holton gave the Purple Knights the lead for good and sparked a 16-3 Saint Michael's run, giving the Purple Knights a 56-44 advantage with five minutes left. Saint Michael's led by double digits the rest of the way, as the Purple Knights shot 61 percent from the field in the second half compared to just 26 percent for the Cougars.

Saint Michael's also outrebounded Caldwell 36-25, offsetting 16 turnovers.

Saint Michael's opens Northeast-10 Conference play on Wednesday with a 7:30 p.m. contest at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.