Stonehill Cruises at Southern New Hampshire, 69-44

Almeida leads balanced Skyhawks effort with 14 points

MANCHESTER, N.H. (December 4, 2010) – Stonehill College, among teams receiving votes in this week's NABC Division II poll, cruised to a 69-44 victory over Southern New Hampshire University in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at SNHU Fieldhouse this afternoon.

Junior Ivan Almeida (Praia, Cape Verde) led a balanced Stonehill effort with a game-high 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field, including 1-for-2 from three-point range, while converting 3-of-4 free throws to go with five rebounds, three steals and two blocked shots. Senior Mike Kernan (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) contributed nine points on 3-of-4 shooting from the field while making all three free throw attempts to go with a game-high eight rebounds and two steals. Junior Sean Lowry (Butler, Pa./Butler) added a season-high nine points by hitting both field goal attempts, including a three-pointer, and converting 4-of-6 free throw attempts in five minutes off the bench. Junior Andre Tongo (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxborough) chipped in with eight points and three boards.

Senior Cory Vejraska (Alachua, Fla./Santa Fe) led Southern New Hampshire with ten points on 4-of- 5 shooting from the field and a 2-for-4 effort at the line to go with three rebounds and three steals. Junior Tory Stapleton (Rahway, N.J./Gill St. Bernard's) added seven points and a team-high four rebounds.

Stonehill finished shooting 52.3 percent (23-for-44) from the field after hitting 13-of-22 (59.1%) of its shots in the first half to build a 40-13 halftime lead. The Skyhawks won the rebounding battle 37-23, and held Southern New Hampshire to 5-for-26 (19.2%) shooting in the first half, including 0-for-8 from three-point range. The Penmen finished shooting 34.7% (17-for-49) from the floor overall, including 2-for-14 (14.3%) from beyond the arc.

Stonehill scored 11 of the first 12 points in the game on its way to leads of 16-2 and 19-4 as it held Southern New Hampshire without a field goal for the first ten and a half minutes. Tongo scored a layup to put the Skyhawks up 19 (29-10) with 6:18 left in the half and the lead grew to 20 (33-13) after Lowry made one of two at the line with 3:28 left.

Stonehill held a 27 point (40-13) halftime lead and quickly extended it to 34 (47-13) after an Almeida basket a minute and a half into the second half. The Skyhawks lead grew to as much as 36 (60-24) and never dipped below 24 the rest of the way.

Stonehill (5-2, 3-2 NE-10) is back in action on Wednesday when it visits rival Bentley University at 7:30 p.m. The Skyhawks do not return home until Wednesday, January 5, to host Southern Connecticut State University at 7:30 p.m. Southern New Hampshire (2-5, 0-5 NE-10) travels to Merrimack College on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.