Toun's Three Pointer With 9.8 Seconds Caps Game Ending 9-2 Run And Lifts Men's Basketball To 72-71 Come-From-Behind Northeast-10 Victory At Merrimack
December 17, 2006
STONEHILL MEN'S BASKETBALL
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Volpe Center, North Andover, Mass.
FINAL: STONEHILL 72, MERRIMACK 71
NORTH ANDOVER, Mass.-- Senior Soap Toun's (Cranston, R.I.) three-pointer with 9.8 seconds remaining capped a game-ending 9-2 run that lifted Stonehill to a 72-71 Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball victory over Merrimack Sunday afternoon at the Volpe Center.
The visiting Skyhawks (7-3, 5-3 Northeast-10) trailed 69-63 with 4:23 remaining in the contest but climbed back to within four on a pair of free throws by senior Lance Clarke (Cambridge, Mass.) with 3:46 to play and to within a bucket on a lay-in by sophomore Nick Smith (Colonia, N.J.) with 2:18 left. A lay-in by sophomore David Kennedy (East Northport, N.Y.) on the ensuing possession staked the host Warriors (2-8, 1-6 Northeast-10) to a four-point advantage at 71-67, but freshman AJ Rudowitz's (Monroe Township, N.J.) lay-up on the next Stonehill possession allowed the visitors to creep back to within two. The two teams exchanged turnovers in a 30 second span, and after Merrimack was called for a five-second violation trying to inbound the ball with 19.8 seconds remaining, Toun connected for his game-winner from the right corner to give the Skyhawks just their second lead of the second half, as a Warrior lay-in attempt with two seconds to play rimmed out at the buzzer.
Stonehill raced out to as quick 10-point lead (13-3) just 4:43 into the contest and led throughout the opening 20 minutes of play, as the two teams traded scoring runs before the Skyhawks grabbed a 38-36 advantage at the break. Merrimack crept out to a five-point lead early in the second half, and the Warriors broke free of a 52-52 tie with a 9-1 run over a 3:10 stretch to take their largest lead of the day at 61-53 on a three-pointer by senior Kenny Jones (Norwich, Conn.) with 8:35 remaining, setting up the frantic finish.
Smith led all scorers with 23 points while grabbing seven rebounds, as he has now scored 20 or more points in five straight contests for Stonehill. Rudowitz added a career-high 22 points and five boards for the Skyhawks, who also received 12 points, six assists and five rebounds from Clarke. Freshman Randall Stallworth (Toms River, N.J.) added nine points and nine assists for the winners, who shot an even 50 percent from the field and canned nine three-pointers to overcome 20 turnovers on the afternoon.
Freshman Darren Duncan (Briarwood, N.Y.) paced Merrimack in the scoring column with 17 points (including 15 after intermission) and nine assists, while Jones finished with 13 points on the day for the Warriors. Junior Gerry Corcoran (Norwell, Mass.) added 12 points on four three-pointers for the hosts, who shot 48 percent from the field and connected for 13 three-pointers while scoring 29 points off of turnovers.
Stonehill hosts Dominican in a non-league outing on Tuesday afternoon at Merkert Gymnasium beginning at 4:00 p.m., while Merrimack will be idle until Friday, December 29th when the Skyhawks take on Bridgeport in opening round play of the Bryant Invitational in Smithfield, R.I. that begins at 7:00 p.m.