Senior Carter Smith drives for the winning basket with five seconds left in overtime. (PHOTO BY Tom Weishaar) |
Skyhawks rally from 18 down early in second half to eliminate defending regional champions
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. (March 13, 2016) – Fourth-seeded Stonehill College erased an 18 point deficit against No. 8 Southern New Hampshire University for the second time in a month, capped by a gamewinning layup from senior guard Carter Smith (Columbus, Ohio/Upper Arlington) with five seconds remaining in overtime, for a thrilling 75-74 triumph in an NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Tournament East Regional semifinal, hosted by Holy Family University, at Campus Center Gymnasium tonight.
Stonehill (23-8, 15-6 NE-10) advances to the regional championship game for the third time in the last ten years where it will face second-seeded Saint Anselm College (23-8, 15-6 NE-10) here at Holy Family on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. The Hawks advanced with a 77-73 victory over sixth-seeded Saint Thomas Aquinas College (27-5, 18-2 ECC) in tonight's first game. Southern New Hampshire, which captured its second Northeast-10 Conference Tournament title last weekend, sees its bid for a second straight regional championship halted with an overall record of 23-11, including 14-7 in the Northeast-10.
Smith scored 13 of his 18 points after halftime, including the gamewinning basket as well as a big three-pointer with 4:38 remaining in the second half that put Stonehill back in front for the first time since it held a 17-16 edge midway through the first half. He finished shooting 7-for-14 from the floor, including 2-for-6 from three-point range, while converting both free-throws to go with four assists and two rebounds.
Senior Adam Bramanti (Middleton, Massachusetts/Masconomet) led four Stonehill players in double-figures with 21 points on 8-of-12 shooting, including 4-for-8 from three-point distance, with four rebounds. Junior Ryan Logan (Fredericktown, Ohio/Fredericktown) flirted with a triple-double as he filled the box score with 12 points, nine rebounds and a career-best nine assists with two blocked shots, while senior Pierce Cumpstone (Bainbridge Township, Ohio/Kenston) notched his 13th double-double of the year (17 career) with 13 points, connecting on 3-of-8 threes, with 1 game-high matching 11 rebounds and two blocked shots.
Senior Adam Bramanti canned four three-pointers on his way to a team-high 21 points tonight. (PHOTO BY Tom Weishaar) |
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Senior Rodney Sanders (Elizabeth, New Jersey/Linden) led all scorers with 29 points (17 first half) for Southern New Hampshire on 12-of-23 shooting, including 5-for-10 from deep, with four assists. Senior BJ Cardarelli (Manchester, Connecticut/East Catholic) added 11 points and seven rebounds for the Penmen, while junior Jerome Harris (Hartford, Connecticut/East Catholic) netted 11 points on 4-of-8 shooting, including 3-for-5 from three, and four rebounds. Junior Devin Gilligan (Amherst, New Hampshire/Kimball Union) grabbed a game-high matching 11 rebounds for SNHU.
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Stonehill finished shooting 43.1-percent from the field (31-for-72), including 57.6% (19-33) in the second half to fuel the comeback and 4-for-8 (50%) in the overtime session, after shooting just 25.8% (8-31) in the opening frame. The Skyhawks were just 9-for-28 (32.1%) from three-point distance, but canned 2-of-4 in overtime, and committed just four turnovers in 45 minutes of play, three of which came in the first half. Southern New Hampshire shot 44.1% (30-68) from the field, including 48.3% (14-29) in the first half to build its 16 point (37-21) halftime margin. The Penmen held a 33-38 rebounding edge for a 14-9 edge in second chance points, but Stonehill claimed a 10-2 advantage in points off turnovers.
Stonehill, which rallied from an 18 point deficit late in the first half of its 69-66 Senior Day win over Southern New Hampshire on February 20, trailed by 16 at the break and then the Penmen extended their lead to 18 (39-21) on a Sanders basket to open the second half. Stonehill used an 11-2 run to pull back within nine (41-32) after a layup from sophomore Isaiah Bess (LaGrange, Maine/Hampden Academy) four minutes into the half,
SNHU answered and pushed its lead back to 13 twice, the latter of which came on a Harris tip-in (47-34) with 13:34 remaining. Stonehill reeled off eight straight points, sparked by back to back three-pointers from Bramanti and Cumpstone, to pull within five (47-42) heading into the under 12-minute media timeout. The teams traded baskets for the next five minutes before Stonehill scored six straight, including four from Smith, to draw within one (53-52) on a Bramanti layup with 5:34 on the clock. Smith struck for his go-ahead triple (57-55) with 4:38 on the clock and the Skyhawks lead stretched to three (59-56) after a Logan lay in a minute later.
Southern New Hampshire reclaimed the lead (60-59) with a layup from freshman Daquaise Andrews (Queens, New York/Thomas Jefferson) with three minutes to go. Smith put Stonehill back in front with a pair of free-throws, but Harris buried a three-pointer for a two point lead (63-61) with 1:40 to play. After Bess knotted the score for Stonehill, Sanders buried a jumper to push the Penmen back in front (65-63) with 27-seconds on the clock. Smith knotted the score with a layup with 19-seconds on the clock and the Skyhawks weathered a late jumper from sophomore Chris Walters (Stamford, Connecticut/Westhill) that was off the mark to send the game into overtime.
Bramanti answered an early Sanders layup to open the overtime session with a three-pointer, setting the stage for an extra session that would include eight of the game's 13 lead changes. Cumpstone scored five of Stonehill's ten overtime points, including a huge tip-in with 1:16 on the clock that put the Skyhawks back in front (70-69) after the two teams went over two minutes without a basket. Sanders pushed SNHU back on top after a time out (71-70), but Cumpstone drilled a triple for a two point Stonehill lead (73-71) with 41-seconds left. Cardarelli regained the lead for the Penmen with a three off an offensive rebound with 15-seconds to go, but following a timeout, Smith provided the late heroics with a drive in the paint with five-seconds remaining. Sanders got a contested look at the other end at the buzzer, but it fell off the mark to send the Skyhawks into the regional final on Tuesday.
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