Junior Brian Hamor scored 15 of his 17 points in the second half, including the winning basket with 0.2-seconds left. (PHOTO BY Br. Charles McBride)

Hamor leaner with 0.2-seconds remaining caps comeback win for Skyhawks

Stonehill (18-8, 15-7 NE-10), which had already sewn up the third seed for the upcoming NE-10 Tournament, will host sixth-seeded Merrimack College (15-11, 12-10 NE-10) for a quarterfinal round matchup on Sunday in Merkert Gym at 1 p.m. Saint Anselm (12-14, 10-12 NE-10), which entered the night needing a win to ensure a spot in the NE-10 Tournament, sees its season come to a close.

Hamor finished with 17 points (15 second half) on 8-of-12 shooting from the field, including 1-for-2 from three-point range, to go with five rebounds and three assists. Junior Raheem May-Thompson (London, England/Towson (Md.) Catholic) provided a big spark off the bench with a season-high 17 points as he made 8-of-12 shots from the field, including his lone three-point attempt, to go with four rebounds in 25 minutes of play. Senior Patrick Lee (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) added 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds (four offensive).

Sophomore Allen Harris (Roslindale, Mass./Suffield Academy) led Saint Anselm with 12 points and three rebounds. Senior Jack Keough (Owego, N.Y./Owego Free Academy) added 11 points, six rebounds, four steals, two assists and a blocked shot, while freshman Andre King (Springfield, Mass./Suffield Academy) contributed ten points off the bench, shooting 2-for-3 from three-point range.

Stonehill shot 64-percent (16-for-25) from the field in the second half to finish at 47.4-percent (27-for-57) from the floor overall after hitting at just 34.4% (11-32) in the first half. The Skyhawks posted a 35-27 rebounding advantage and held a 17-12 edge in points off turnovers. Saint Anselm shot 40.6-percent (13-for-23) from the field in the second half after hitting at 47.6% (10-21) in the opening stanza, including 3-for-6 (50%) from deep, to finish shooting 43.4% (23-53) from the floor overall. The Skyhawks also converted 11-of-12 (91.7%) free-throw attempts.

Junior Raheem May-Thompson scored a season-high 17 points to provide a spark off the Skyhawks bench. PHOTO BY Br. Charles McBride)

Hamor's gamewinning basket came right after freshman Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J./St. Thomas More) looked to have forced overtime for Saint Anselm with a three-pointer at the other end with 7.6-seconds remaining. Stonehill rallied from a six point deficit (51-46), after trailing by as much as ten (44-34) early in the second half, after a King three-pointer with 9:30 left in regulation. May-Thompson pulled the Skyhawks within a point (55-54) with a jumper with 6:08 left.

Harris scored a layup at the other end to put Saint Anselm back up three, but May-Thompson scored two-straight baskets to give Stonehill its first lead of the night (58-57) with 4:42 on the clock. The Skyhawks wouldn't trail again as a Hamor jumper pushed their lead to three (60-57) with 2:43 to play. Harris quickly answered with a layup at the other end and then neither team scored until junior Sam Markle (Bethany, Conn./Saint Thomas More) drained two big free-throws with 36-seconds remaining.

Harris missed a jumper with 22-seconds left at the other end and then Lee had a chance to ice the victory at the free-throw line, but missed the front end of the one and one to allow Mabrey to hit the tying basket before Hamor's winner with 0.2-seconds left.

Stonehill missed its first ten shots from the field as Saint Anselm opened with a 7-1 lead over the opening five minutes before senior Andre Tongo (Acton, Mass./Acton-Boxborough) broke the drought for the Skyhawks with a jumper nearly six minutes in. The Hawks lead was eight (11-3) after a Keough layup with 11:56 left in the half before the Skyhawks rallied within two (11-9) after a layup from freshman Jack Cole (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) with 10:33 remaining.

Saint Anselm used a 14-5 run over the next four minutes to open its largest lead of the night (25-14) on a layup by sophomore Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass./Winthrop) with 6:13 to play in the half. Stonehill closed within two again (25-23) with nine straight points, keyed by a Tongo three and capped by a May-Thompson dunk at the three minute mark.

Saint Anselm held a five point cushion (33-28) at the intermission despite not scoring a field goal over the final 2:05 of the half. Stonehill scored the first four points of the second half to cut its deficit to a point (33-32) on a Hamor jumper, but Saint Anselm used an 11-2 spurt to regain a ten point lead (44-34) on a three-point play by junior James Morse (Arundel, Maine/Thornton Academy) four and a half minutes into the frame. Harris also keyed that stretch for the Hawks with six points.

A May-Thompson dunk sparked Stonehill back within four (44-40) after an Adam Fazzini (Drums, Pa./Crestwood) with 13:12 to play. The teams traded baskets over the next four minutes before King's three pushed the Hawks lead back to six (51-45) before Stonehill mounted its final rally.