1970-71 Stonehill Men's Basketball Team - first NCAA Tournament Team (21-6). |
1972-73 Stonehill Men's Basketball Team - second NCAA Tournament Team (20-6). |
1970-71 and 1972-73 men's basketball teams will be honored at halftime of Saturday's game, with reception to follow game against Saint Rose
EASTON, Mass. (January 10, 2013) – Stonehill College will welcome its first two NCAA Tournament men's basketball teams to campus on Saturday for a reunion surrounding the Northeast-10 Conference matchup with The College of Saint Rose in Merkert Gymnasium at 3:30 p.m.
Stonehill will host a reunion for its 1970-71 and 1972-73 men's basketball programs to highlight the program's Alumni Day, with men's basketball alumni from the classes of 1971 through 1976 highlighting those returning to campus for the event. Both teams were coached by James Dougher, who posted a 98-52 (.653) record over his six seasons at Stonehill, and the teams combined to produce three future Stonehill Hall of Famers: Michael Allocco, '73 (inducted in 1989), Henry Jackson, '73 (1995) and Howie Bain, '74 (2001). Allocco, the first All-American in men's basketball history at Stonehill, is the program's all-time leading scorer with 2,399 career points – one of just three 2,000 point scorers in program history. He scored a school-record 52 points in a 124-90 win over Norwich University in 1971.
Stonehill posted a 21-6 record in 1970-71 and earned the program's first NCAA Tournament bid. The team scored 100 or more points in 12 of its 27 games that season and fell to Central Connecticut State University (111-99) in the first round of the NCAA Small College Tournament. Among the 21 wins were victories over Saint Michael's College (75-73), Adelphi University (100-80), Amherst College (111-83), Colby College (107-78), Merrimack College (78-70), Saint Anselm College (92-79), Siena University (87-83), Marist College (76-69), Franklin & Marshall University (110-63) and Fairfield University (110-106). Allocco led a Stonehill offense that averaged 95.9 points per contest with 26.4 points to go with 12 rebounds per game. Jackson contributed 14.8 points per outing.
Stonehill reached the NCAA Tournament again in 1972-73 with a 20-6 mark, falling to the University of Bridgeport (77-74) in the first round. The team averaged 86.4 points per game, led by Allocco's 24 points per contest and 15.3 points per game by Bain. Stonehill posted wins over American International College (95-83), Wesleyan University (88-59), Adelphi (91-86), Marist (90-77), Pace University (81-79 in OT), Merrimack (92-82), Wagner University (80-79), Saint Anselm (75-54), Southern Connecticut State University (92-89) and Saint Michael's (108-98).
Saturday will start with an Alumni Game at Merkert Gym at 10:45 a.m., before the men's and women's doubleheader at 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. There will be a men's basketball reception following the men's basketball game in the Martin Institute Auditorium adjacent to Merkert Gym.
Stonehill (6-6, 2-6 NE-10) will be looking for a fifth straight home win when it returns to Merkert Gym on Saturday to host Saint Rose (7-5, 4-4 NE-10) in a key midseason NE-10 clash. The Skyhawks have played to a 6-1 record at home this year, but still seek their first road win.
The Stonehill women's team (11-1, 7-1 NE-10), ranked 23rd in this week's USA TODAY Sports/WBCA Division II poll, and Saint Rose (5-7, 2-6 NE-10) will open the afternoon with tipoff at 1:30 p.m. The Skyhawks are a perfect 6-0 at home this season and winners of three straight since the holiday break.
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