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| A.J. Rudowitz had 13 points, including the 1000th of his career in the 60-59 loss |
No. 10 Skyhawks Fall 60-59, Drop Second Straight Overall
Easton, Mass. - The Skyhawks dropped their second straight following their ten game win streak, this one a back and forth decision against Franklin Pierce, 60-59, despite getting a career-high tying 28 points from Randall Stallworth (Toms River, N.J.).
The game started out as back and forth affair as neither team could pull away, however a layup by Nick Smith (Colonia, N.J.) gave Stonehill their first lead at 11-10 with just under 13 minutes left..
Franklin Pierce called a timeout and then came out firing, going on a 12-0 run that stretched just over five and a half minutes, while forcing four Skyhawk turnovers.
Stallworth finally broke the scoring drought as he hit two free throws to cut the 22-13. The teams exchanged baskets, until a Rima Varanauskas triple put the lead back to nine at 27-18 with 5:30 remaining.
Stonehill responded, going on a 12-3 run to tie the game up at 29 with just over a minute left as A.J. Rudowitz (Monroe Township, N.J.) hit two buckets, Smith hit two free throws and Stallworth nailed his third three of the half. However, a Raven bucket with 50 seconds left gave Franklin Pierce a 31-29 lead going into the half.
A three from Jeff Manchester extended the Raven lead to 34-29 to open the second, but Stonehill came out with a 16-4 run over the next eight minutes as Stallworth scored on a layin to start then run and then hit two more shots from behind the arc.
Matt Hall (Springfield, Mass.) extended the run with triple of his own as the Skyhawks lead stretched to 45-38. Rudowitz also scored the 1,000th point of his career during the run, making one of two free throws.
Kinard Dozier stopped the Stonehill run at the 11:06 mark and Manchester cut the lead to two with his three. The teams once again traded baskets until a Rudowitz layup gave the Skyhawks a 52-46 lead with six minutes left.
The Ravens turned up the defense and found some offense as they held Stonehill to just two points over the next five minutes, while scoring 12 points, five of which came from Dozier and the final one a layup by Terrell Ray game the Franklin Pierce a 58-54 lead with just a minute left.
Two Rudowitz foul shots brought the Skyhawks within two however they were unable to collect the rebound off a Manchester shot and were forced to foul with seven seconds left.
Dozier hit both shots for the 60-56 lead, and a three by Stallworth at the buzzer gave the Ravens the one point victory.
Stallworth had six triples in the contest for 28 points and also grabbed four boards and dishing out four assists. Rudowitz was the only other player to join him in double figures (13 pts), while also pulling down eight rebounds and collecting three blocks and four steals.
Manchester and Dozier had 15 apiece, with all 15 of Manchester's coming from behind the arc.
The loss drops Stonehill to 16-4 on the season (11-4 NE-10) however they will get a chance for revenge as they head up to Rindge to take on the Ravens on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.