Survive And Advance: No. 1 Bentley Next In Semis
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Freshman Mike Kernan recorded his first career double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Pace. |
Pleasantville, N.Y. - No. 5 seeded Stonehill closed the game on a 26-6 run that turned a seven point deficit into a 60-47 victory over fourth-seeded Pace in the quarterfinals of the Northeast-10 Conference tournament at the Goldstein Center on Monday evening.
The win, which improves the Skyhawks overall record to 18-13, sets up a showdown with the nation's No. 1 team, Bentley, who defeated LeMoyne in overtime to push its record to 28-0.
That game will take place on Thursday at the Dana Center in Waltham with tip off scheduled for 7:00 p.m.
Early on it seemed as if neither Pace or Stonehill was ready to take command of the contest with the two teams combining to go 16-for-62 in the first half.
The Setters went into the intermission with a 22-16 edge and it might have been greater if not for Stonehill freshman Mike Kernan (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) who scored 10 of his 12 points in his 12 minutes of first half action.
After Pace upped its lead to 41-34 on a three-pointer from the Northeast-10's leading scorer, Ryan Williams, Stonehill embarked on its game-altering run which started with a leftside triple from freshman Vince Rosario (Perth Amboy, N.J./Cardinal McCarrick).
A.J. Rudowitz (Monroe Township, N.J./Monroe) converted two layups in between Setter free throws, and a layup from Colin Scanlon (Centreville, Va./Flint Hill) evened the score at 43-43.
Junior Nick Smith (Colonia, N.J./Colonia) and sophomore Randall Stallworth (Toms River, N.J./Monsignor Donovan) combined on a 9-0 run in less than two minutes to give the Skyhawks a 52-43 lead with a little more than a minute to go.
In a game that featured 90 missed shots from the field, both teams barely cracked 30 percent shooting, while they combined to go 8-for-54 from three-point territory.
Smith's 13 points and seven rebounds led the Skyhawks, while Kernan added 10 rebounds for his first career double-double. Matt Hall (Springfield, Mass./Central) notched a double-double as well, going for 10 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and three rebounds.
Laurence McGhee led the Setters (14-14) with 12 points, five rebounds and four assists, while Desmond Quincy-Jones, who netted 26 points in his meeting earlier in the year with Stonehill, managed just four points on 2-for-12 shooting.
Williams and Gibraltar White, who entered the night as one of the top scoring combinations in the Northeast-10, were held to a combined 14 points on 5-for-27 shooting, including a 2-for-15 performance from behind the arc.