Senior Brian Hamor led a balanced Skyhawks effort with 17 points tonight. (PHOTO BY Tim Patrick)

Hamor and Cole lead five Skyhawks in double-figures in NE-10 opener

EASTON, Mass. (November 14, 2012) – Stonehill College, ranked 22^nd in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II preseason poll, erased a four point deficit with two minutes to play and went on to claim an 81-73 victory in overtime against Saint Anselm College in the Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball opener for both at Merkert Gymnasium tonight.

Senior Brian Hamor (Guilderland, N.Y./Bishop Gibbons) led a balanced Stonehill scoring effort which placed five players in double-figures with 17 points as he hit 6-of-15 shots from the field and converting 3-of-4 free-throws to go with three rebounds. Sophomore Jack Cole (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) posted his second straight double-double (2^nd career) with 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, including his lone three-point attempt, while making 2-of-4 free-throws and grabbing a career-high 16 rebounds with two blocked shots.

Senior Sam Markle (Branford, Conn./Saint Thomas More) had a strong game with a career-high matching 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting, including 1-for-2 from deep, and converting all four free-throw attempts with three rebounds and six assists. Junior Mitch Amelio (Carlsbad, Calif./La Jolla Country Day) netted 11 points off the bench as he hit 3-of-5 shots from the field, including 2-for-4 from beyond the arc, and converted 3-of-4 free-throws to go with a career-high six rebounds. Senior Adam Fazzini (Drums, Pa./Crestwood) rounded out the double-figure scorers with 11 points and four rebounds.

Sophomore Jack Cole grabbed a career-high 16 rebounds as part of a second-straight double-double for the Skyhawks. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane)

Freshman Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y./Clarkstown South) led Saint Anselm with a game-high 19 points on 6-of-18 shooting from the field with nine rebounds. Sophomore Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) added 16 points off the bench, on 6-of-11 shooting, with nine rebounds. Sophomore Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J./Saint Thomas More) contributed 13 points, five rebounds and two steals, while junior Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass./Winthrop) chipped in 11 points and four assists.

Stonehill shot 44.4-percent (28-for-63) from the field in the contest, including 4-for-8 in the overtime period, and hit 11-of-28 (39.3%) three-pointers. The Skyhawks drilled 3-of-5 from distance in the overtime period and also converted 7-of-8 free-throws in the extra session. Stonehill posted a 46-44 rebounding edge, resulting in a 12-9 advantage for second chance points.

Saint Anselm was held to 35.6-percent (26-for-73) shooting, including 3-for-10 (30%) in overtime, and 6-for-22 (27.3%) for the night from three-point range.

Senior Sam Markle matched his career-high with 13 points to go with six assists tonight. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane)

Saint Anselm turned a one point deficit after put back from Stonehill senior Raheem May-Thompson (London, England/Towson Catholic (Md.)) with 2:51 to play into a four point advantage heading into the closing minutes of regulation of the back and forth contest in which neither team led by more than seven during regulation. McCahey made two free-throws to put the Hawks back in front before Santo converted a conventional three point play with 2:05 on the clock for the four point lead (63-59).

Stonehill responded with a Fazzini three pointer on its next trip to cut the gap back to one (63-62) with 1:32 remaining. Saint Anselm missed twice at the other end and then Cole was fouled going for the rebound with 53-seconds left. He made one of two at the line to knot the score at 65-65 and both teams misfired on their final possessions to send the game to overtime.

Junior John Nielsen (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Loomis Chaffee) drilled a three pointer for Saint Anselm to open the overtime, but it was all Stonehill after that. Markle immediately answered with a three at the other end before Fazzini put the Skyhawks in front (69-66) with another triple with 3:31 left. Hamor scored on a driving layup and then Cole drained an open three at the corner for an eight point cushion (74-66) with 2:05 to go.

Saint Anselm closed within six (74-68) with two McCahey free-throws with 1:47 to play, but Stonehill opened the largest lead of the night by either team at ten points (78-68) after two Markle free-throws with 40-seconds left that sealed the win.

Stonehill (2-0, 1-0 NE-10) has the weekend off before returning to action next Tuesday, November 20, to host 10^th-ranked Franklin Pierce University in a key early season NE-10 test at Merkert Gym at 7:30 p.m. Saint Anselm (2-1, 0-1 NE-10) also has the week off before hosting Southern New Hampshire University next Tuesday at 7:30 p.m.