WORCESTER, Mass. - The Saint Michael's College men's basketball team fell at Assumption College, 82-78, on Saturday during Northeast-10 Conference play at Laska Gymnasium. The Purple Knights are 0-4 overall and 0-2 after having their three-game winning streak at Laska Gymnasium snapped. The Greyhounds are 2-2 and 2-0.

Senior Matt Bonds (Accokeek, Md./North Point) turned in 25 points, 15 rebounds and two steals for the visitors, shooting 10-of-20 overall and 5-of-6 on free throws while snagging six offensive rebounds. During the contest, Bonds moved his career rebound total to 828, passing Todd Roberts '01 (815) to take over ninth in program history. Three others reached double figures, as sophomore Levi Holmes III (East Brunswick, N.J./Rutgers Prep) had 11 points, four boards and three assists. Saint Michael's held a 42-28 rebounding advantage.

Senior Zaire Williams (Paterson, N.J./Newark Academy) and sophomore Winston Jones II (Valley Stream, N.Y./Valley Stream Central) both scored 10 points, with Williams adding four assists and two steals, and Jones going 4-of-4 on freebies. Holmes and Williams both hit two three-pointers. Sophomore Derek Cheatom (Buffalo, N.Y./The Park School of Buffalo) turned in nine points, four rebounds and two blocks.

Senior Karl Ziegler scored 20 points on 8-of-13 shooting for Assumption, pulling six rebounds, while classmate Declan Soukup and sophomore Damien Rance both scored 16 points. Rance shot 3-of-6 from beyond the arc, and Soukup hit all 10 free throw tries while adding four assists and three steals.

The Purple Knights raced out to a 20-6 lead behind seven points from Bonds, while junior Colin Richey (Upton, Mass./Choate Rosemary Hall) netted five, and the visitors capped the stretch on first-year Eli DiGrande's (Essex Junction, Vt./Essex) jumper at 14:04 of the first half. Saint Michael's still led 28-15 on Bonds' lay-in with 9:22 to go before the Greyhounds but together a quick 10-2 run in a matter of 2:47, but Williams canned a three to push the advantage back to 35-27 with 2:57 left.

The visitors led 40-36 at halftime, but Assumption slowly eased in front by virtue of a 22-12 run that spanned the intermission, as Ziegler netted six points early in the second stanza, including the go-ahead jumper at 14:49. After first-year Thomas Jackson III's (Middletown, Conn./Holderness School) bucket 1:08 later forced a 51-51 tie, Ziegler kicked off a 6-0 stretch with a jumper with 13:25 left. Rance netted the final four points. Williams' freebie capped a 5-0 spurt that made it a 57-56 game, but the next five points came from Greyhounds.

Saint Michael's twice trimmed its deficit back to three points, including on Williams' two free throws at 3:09, and the Purple Knights' lone tying attempt down the stretch - on the next possession, with 2:51 to go - ended in a miss, and sophomore Justin Tuckson hit a three at 2:25. Assumption never again led by fewer than four points.

The Purple Knights return home on Tuesday to host Saint Anselm College at 7:30 p.m. The Hawks, who are tied for eighth in the latest D2SIDA East Region Media Poll, qualified for the past four NCAA Tournaments, finishing as last year's regional runner-up.