Senior Randall Stallworth guided the Skyhawks to their title-clinching win with ten points, five rebounds and two steals. |
#22 Stonehill Clinches Sixth
NE-10
Regular Season Title
Skyhawks stifle Southern New Hampshire, 52-40, for 11th-straight road victory
MANCHESTER, N.H. (February 20, 2010) - Stonehill College, ranked 22nd in this week's National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II poll and second in the NCAA East Regional rankings, clinched its sixth Northeast-10 Conference regular season championship with a 52-40 victory over Southern New Hampshire University in NE-10 men's basketball action at SNHU Fieldhouse this afternoon.
Stonehill, winners of 11-straight road games since a season-opening overtime setback at Queens (N.Y.) College and all ten NE-10 road games, captures its sixth NE-10 regular season championship - first since finishing as co-champions with Bentley University in 2005-06. The Skyhawks were able to clinch with today's win, coupled by a 72-70 upset by Franklin Pierce University at Bentley earlier this afternoon - snapping the Falcons five-year reign atop the Conference standings. Stonehill will now be top seed in the upcoming NE-10 Championships and hold home court advantage throughout, starting with a quarterfinal round matchup on Monday, March 1, at 7 p.m.
Senior Randall Stallworth (Toms River, N.J./Monsignor Donovan) and sophomore Ivan Almeida (Praia, Cape Verde) both scored ten points to lead Stonehill to the victory. Stallworth also added five rebounds and two steals, while Almeida made 2-of-3 three-pointers and converted 4-of-6 free-throws to go with four rebounds and two blocked shots.
Junior Daniel Heppert (Richmond, Va./Benedictine) added nine points, seven rebounds and two steals, while sophomore Patrick Lee (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) pulled down a game-high nine rebounds to go with six points off the bench for the Skyhawks.
Sophomore Ivan Almeida also netted ten points to go with four rebounds and two blocked shots. |
Freshman Corey Boland (Union, N.J./Wardlaw-Hartridge) was the lone Southern New Hampshire player in double-figures with a game-high 11 points off the bench on 3-of-6 shooting from the field while converting 5-of-7 free-throws to go with six rebounds and two blocked shots. 26 of SNHU's 40 points came from its bench as sophomore Josh Morgan-Green (Upper Marlboro, Md./t. Mary's) added seven points. Senior Stephen Wood (Queens, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) chipped in with seven rebounds (six offensive), four points and three steals.
Stonehill finished shooting 34.8-percent (16-for-46) from the field in the defensive struggle, but were an economical 6-for-14 (42.9%) from three-point range, including 4-for-9 (44.4%) in the second half. The Skyhawks held the Penmen to just 27.3-percent (15-for-55) shooting from the field, including only 6-for-32 (18.8%) in the second half, and a mere 1-for-14 (7.1%) from beyond the arc on the day. Stonehill also posted a 43-33 rebounding advantage for the afternoon.
Stonehill led by two (25-23) after SNHU opened the second half with a jumper by junior Tory Stapleton (Rahway, N.J./Gill St. Bernard). The Skyhawks used a 12-2 run to regain a double-digit lead (37-25) after a tip-in from Lee with 13:41 to play. Almeida and Heppert drilled back-to-back three-pointers to spark the run.
Morgan-Green answered with a three-pointer for SNHU, but Stonehill reeled off seven-straight points to gain a 16-point (44-28) lead after a three-pointer by freshman Brian Hamor (Guilderland, N.Y./Bishop Gibbons) with 8:07 remaining. The run came during a streak of over seven minutes for the Penmen without a point. SNHU closed within 11 (44-33) after a free-throw by Boland with 5:27 left, but the Skyhawks pushed their lead up to a game-high 18 points (53-34) after a Stallworth three and free-throw by freshman Sam Markle (Bethany, Conn./Saint Thomas More) with 2:28 left, sealing the win.
Both teams struggled to find their shooting touch early, but Stonehill was able to grind out an 11-point lead (19-8) after two free-throws from Almeida with 6:21 to go in the first half. That came during an eight minute stretch for the Skyhawks without a field goal, by also keeping SNHU scoreless for five minutes. The Penmen drew within four at the break (25-21) with a 13-6 run to close out the half. Boland sparked the closing run with the Penmen's lone three-pointer of the game.
Stonehill (22-4, 19-2 NE-10) closes out the regular season with a key matchup with NCAA Tournament seeding implications at 10th-ranked Bentley on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m. The Skyhawks will host an NE-10 quarterfinal round matchup on Monday, March 1, at 7 p.m. Southern New Hampshire (14-12, 9-12 NE-10) rounds out the regular season at Merrimack College on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
