Worcester, Mass. (November 15) -- The Assumption College men's basketball team fell to Caldwell at home on Saturday in its first game of the 2014 Northeast-10/CACC Challenge by a score of 75-68. Junior Karl Ziegler (Annandale, Va. / Annandale) and senior Jimmy Zenevitch (Methuen, Mass. / Central Catholic) helped lead the Hounds with 16 points apiece on the day.

The contest marked the first regular-season matchup for the Greyhounds and for the Cougars.

In a slow first half, the Cougars were the first to register points on the board on a layup from Kevin Walker to take a 2-0 advantage. The Hounds responded with a free throw before allowing Caldwell to get out to a 10-5 lead. 

With 11:31 on the clock, Caldwell's Salvatore Vitello drainejumd a three to put the Hounds behind 23-14, forcing an Assumption timeout. Zenovitch scored a layup out of the huddle to cut the deficit to seven. 

Back-and-forth play continued throughout the first half and Assumption went into the locker room down by eight (43-35).

It was Caldwell that continued to dominate the offensive front in the beginning of the second, posting a 6-2 run to kick off the half (50-37).

The Greyhounds responded with a five-point run, sparked by a layup and a follow-up free throw from sophomore Kamali Bey (Springfield, Mass. / Wilbraham & Monson Academy). Bey's free throw was followed by two more from classmate Marcus Murray (Washington, D.C. / John F. Kennedy) to bring the game back within eight (50-42).

Caldwell pushed the lead to 10 with 12:04 left on the clock and continued to recapture the advantage until a Greyhound run with just under 10 minutes on the clock brought Assumption within four. 

After two points at the line from Caldwell's Brian Kenny left Assumption down 46-56, Ziegler answered with two back-to-back layups to make it 50-56. A jump shot on the following possession by Murray made it 56-52.

The Cougars battled to increase the lead but Zenevitch notched two more from the stripe to bring the Hounds within four again with 6:10 left on the clock (60-56). A Ziegler layup followed to bring the Hounds within two (60-58), but was answered by two free throws from Caldwell's Kevin Walker to put the Cougars back up by four (62-58).

A layup from junior Terrance Bobb-Jones (Wilmington, Del. / Delcastle Voc-Tech) made it 62-60 with 3:50 on the clock, but Assumption would get no closer as the Cougars regained control of the game for the eventual 75-68 final.

Ziegler and Zenevitch led the Hounds with 16 points each, Ziegler also tallied 10 rebounds for a double-double. The pair was followed by Murray who notched 15 points while adding six rebounds, three assists, two steals and a team-high two blocks. Murray also went 5-for-6 at the line.

Bey was also a strong force for the offense, posting 12 points on the day.

As a team, the Hounds shot 42.6 percent from the floor and 76.5 percent from the free-throw line (13-17). The Cougars went 42.3 percent from the floor and 73.3 percent from the stripe. While the two squads rounded out the evening fairly even from the floor and from the line, Caldwell held a significant advantage behind the arc, shooting 60 percent to just 23.1 percent for the Hounds.

The Greyhounds are set to return to action tomorrow, Nov. 16, for their second game of the Northeast-10/CACC Challenge against Dominican at 3 p.m. in Laska Gymnasium. That game and each home game this season will be broadcast in full HD FREE of charge at www.assumptiongreyhounds.tv.

For the latest on Assumption College Athletics, follow the Hounds via social media on Twitter,Facebook and YouTube. For more information, contact the Office of Athletic Communications at 508-767-7240.