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The Game
Stonehill College plays its lone home game of December and final home game of the semester before starting its inaugural Northeast Conference slate as it hosts Rider University for a non-conference matchup on Paula Sullivan Court at Merkert Gymnasium tonight. The Skyhawks are winners of two-straight for the first time in its NCAA Division I era after holding off Binghamton University for a 69-66 win on Saturday. Rider has also won its last two following a 68-65 victory over Mount Saint Mary's in its MAAC opener in Maryland on Saturday.

Media Information
Tonight's game is being broadcast live on SkyhawksVision and NEC Front Row. Charlie Bergeron (PBP) and Brian Buckley (analyst) have the call of the action for tonight. The broadcast can be accessed via stonehillskyhawks.com through its NEC Front Row portal (necfrontrow.com/schools/SC) or through Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku via the NEC On the Run App.

Against the Broncs
Tonight marks the first meeting all-time between Stonehill and Rider. The Broncs are Stonehill's second MAAC opponent of the season, with the Skyhawks falling to Quinnipiac in their first NCAA Division home game in a shootout on November 10, 102-95.

Last Time Out
Fifth-year guard Josh Mack (Winchester, Va.) scored his second buzzer-beating gamewinner over the last two weeks to lift Stonehill to a 69-66 triumph over Binghamton on Saturday. Fifth-year Andrew Sims (Mount Laurel, N.Y.) scored a game-high 22 points to lead all Stonehill scorers, converting 11-of-13 free-throws in posting his fourth 20-point game of the season (12th career). Classmate Isaiah Burnett (Annapolis, Md.) filled the box score with 12 points and a career-high 12 rebounds for his first career double-double, adding six assists, five steals and two blocked shots. Postgrad Max Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.) added 12 points, three rebounds, two blocked shots and a steal. Senior Jacob Falko led four from Binghamton in double figures with 15 points on 6-of-11 shooting, including a tying layup with 4.8-seconds remaining that knotted the score for the second time in the game, both coming in the latter stages of the contest, with four rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block. Mack's buzzer-beating three avoided overtime and held off a Binghamton comeback from a nine-point deficit in the second half, including seven points down with seven minutes to play.

Sims	Zegarowski

Prime Performers
Stonehill fifth-year forward Andrew Sims (Mount Laurel N.J.) and postgrad Max Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.) were both selected as Primer Performers by the Northeast Conference on Monday for their efforts in the Skyhawks 2-0 week. Sims earns a spot on the Prime Performer list for the second-straight week and team-leading third time this season after averaging 18.0 points on 52.6-percent shooting, converting 15-of-19 (78.9%) free-throws, to go with 2.0 rebounds and an assist per game. He scored a game-high 22 points, aided by 11-of-13 shooting at the line, with a rebound in Saturday's 69-66 win at Binghamton. Zegarowski collects Prime Performer status for the first time after averaging 20.0 points on 52-percent shooting, including 8-for-18 (44.4%) from three-point distance, and draining all six free-throws, to go with 4.0 assists, 1.5 assists and a blocked shot per game. He scored 20 of his career-best 28 points in Wednesday's 92-45 win over Eastern Nazarene, finishing shooting 6-for-11 from three-point range, while adding five rebounds and two assists in just over 24-minutes. In addition to Sims three Prime Performer selections over the first four weeks of the season, fellow fifth-year Isaiah Burnett (Annapolis, Md.) has been selected twice and has joined Sims in being named NEC Player of the Week in back-to-back weeks to open the season.
NEC Prime Performers:
Nov. 14: Andrew Sims & Isaiah Burnett
Nov. 21: Isaiah Burnett
Nov. 28: Andrew Sims
Dec. 5: Andrew Sims & Max Zegarowski

Mack Attack
Stonehill fifth-year guard Josh Mack (Winchester, Va.) recorded his second last-second gamewinning basket of the season with his buzzer-beating three-pointer to hold off Binghamton for a 69-66 victory on Saturday. The guard delivered a turnaround jumper in the paint two weeks earlier to lift the Skyhawks to an 81-79 win over Holy Cross at the Tom Konchalski Classic on November 19. Mack is averaging 20 minutes per game off the bench for the Skyhawks this season and shooting 54.3-percent from the floor, including 5-for-11 (45.5%) from three in eight games played.

Stonehill Shooting Stars
Stonehill currently leads the Northeast Conference in field goal percentage (.465), three-point percentage (.382), free throw percentage (.830) and effective field goal percentage (.523). The Skyhawks continue to rank first in the nation in free throw percentage.

Streaking
Fifth-year Andrew Sims (Mount Laurel, N.J.) has scored in double-figures in 15-straight games played dating back to last season, including all nine games in which he has appeared this year with a team-high four 20-point outings after his game-high 22 points at Binghamton on Saturday. Postgrad Max Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.) has reached double-figures in four-straight, including his career-high 28 points against Eastern Nazarene last week.

Shootin' Shamir
Stonehill fifth-year guard Shamir Johnson (Waterbury, Conn.) continues to pace the NEC in three-point proficiency, having hit 21-of-38 for a 55.3-percent success rate. On Saturday, he hit 3-of-4 from deep in the Skyhawks' last-second win at Binghamton. Johnson drained 8-of-11 threes for a 72.7 percent success rate in games against Providence and Holy Cross. He drilled 5-of-7 as part of a career-high 15-point night at Providence, then sank 3-4 in the Skyhawks' 81-79 win against Holy Cross. Johnson's 2.1 three-point field goals per game rank fifth in the NEC.

Taking Their Charity
Stonehill is shooting an astounding 83-percent from the free throw line over the first ten games of the season, nearly ten-percent higher than Fairleigh Diickenson (74%) in second. That mark is just a shade above Miami of Ohio (82.9%) atop all of NCAA Division I programs. The NEC single-season record for free-throw percentage is 78.2 percent, established by CCSU in 2018-19. Stonehill currently has three players ranked in the NEC top-six in free throw accuracy, led by postgrad Max Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.), who has hit an NEC-high 93.1-percent of his attempts (27-for-29). Fifth-years Andrew Sims (Mount Laurel, N.J.) is ranked fourth and Isaiah Burnett (Annapolis, Md.) sixth, shooting 84.9-percent and 78.2%, respectively. (Note that due to NCAA Division I reclassification, Stonehill does not officially appear among NCAA statistical leaders for four years)

Max Streak
Postgrad Max Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.) has made his last 16 free-throw attempts after going 4-for-4 at Binghamton on Saturday. His last miss was the front end of a two-shot trip in the second half at Providence on November 15. He has gone to the free-throw line at least once in each of the last four games and has taken over the NEC lead by shooting 93.1-percent (27-for-29) from the line this season overall. Zegarowski is an 88.8% (151-170) free-throw shooter over his collegiate career, including his time at Lynn and Franklin Pierce.

Exciting "Newcomer"
Stonehill fifth-year guard Isaiah Burnett (Annapolis, Md.) was named one of three "Exciting newcomers" to the NEC by Ryan Peters in the NEC Overtime! Blog last week. Burnett, named the NEC Player of the Week once and a two-time weekly Prime Performer, was cited for his Points Over Replacement Per Adjusted Game at That Usage (2.8). Per Hoop Math, Burnett has attempted 59% of his attempts at the rim, converting 68% of them. Just 8% of those near-the-rim makes were assisted, illustrating his strength of blowing by defenders. Defensively, Burnett is unique within the Skyhawks system, as he's the only player with a steal rate north of 2.2%. His rate of 4.6% is the best mark among NEC players and is 60th nationally.

A Team Effort
Eight different players have led Stonehill in rebounding over its first ten games this season. Fifth-years Andrew Sims (Mount Laurel, N.J.) and Isaiah Burnett (Annapolis, Md.) leads the way having led the Skyhawks in three games each after Burnett produced the first double-figure rebounding game and double-double by a Skyhawk this season at Binghamton on Saturday.

Stop... Thief!
Stonehill fifth-year Isaiah Burnett (Annapolis, Md.) has recorded a steal in all ten contests to open the 2022-23 season and 16-straight games dating back to last year after his career-high matching five thefts at Binghamton on Saturday. He had four steals in the first two games of the Konchalski Classic as well as last Wednesday against Eastern Nazarene. Burnett now ranks second in the NEC with his 2.9 steals per game after leading the NE10 with 2.3 last year.

Mad Max
Postgrad Max Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.) is averaging 2.5 three-point field goals per game, to rank second among NEC leaders. He canned six against Eastern Nazarene last Wednesday on his way to a career-high 28 points (6-for-11 threes), giving him four-plus threes in 15 career games dating back to his playing days at both Lynn and Franklin Pierce, with three this season. The NEC's FT shooting leader (93.1%) has moved into ninth on the Conference's scoring charts with 13.8 points per game.  

In Transition
Stonehill announced it had accepted an invitation to join the Northeast Conference and commence a four-year transition to full NCAA Division I membership on April 5. The Skyhawks started their four-year transition on July 1 and will earn full NCAA Division I membership in 2026-27. At the June NEC meetings, the Conference presidents announced a shift in the waiting period for automatic qualifier sports from competing for NEC postseason championships from four to two years, making Stonehill eligible to compete in the NEC postseason starting in 2024-25.

Proud History
Stonehill won the Northeast-10 Presidents' Cup six times, finishing in the top three in the final standings 15 of the last 17 years. Stonehill was one of just ten institutions nationwide to receive the NCAA Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Achievement, recognizing athletic departments with an Academic Success rating of 90-percent or better, each of the first ten years of the program's existence. The College ranks No. 98 in the category of National Liberal Arts Schools by U.S. News & World Report and No. 94 for the Best Value category.

Hoop History
Stonehill men's basketball earned 15 NCAA Division II Tournament bids over its history, the last was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Stonehill were charter members of the Northeast-10 Conference, winning the first two tournament championships in 1981 and '82, finishing its time in the Conference with four postseason titles and six regular season championships.

Preseason Prognostications
Stonehill was picked to finish ninth in its first Northeast Conference season by the league's head coaches. Merrimack received six of the eight first place votes to hold the pole position atop the preseason poll, followed by Sacred Heart with two first place votes. Saint Francis (Pa.) follows in third, while Wagner is picked fourth and received the final first place vote.  

Tough Slate
Stonehill has assembled a tough non-conference slate in its inaugural Division I season, featuring opponents from the Big East  (2 - UConn, Providence), ACC (1 - BC), Missouri Valley (3 - UIC, Bradley, Valpo), Patriot League (2 - Army, Holy Cross), America East (2 - UMass Lowell, Binghamton), MAAC (2 - Quinnipiac, Rider), A-10 (1 - Fordham) leading up to its inaugural NEC slate around the New Year. 12 of the Skyhawks 15 non-conference games will also be played on the road.  

Inside the Roster
Stonehill head coach Chris Kraus '06 returns ten letterwinners, including three starters from his 2021-22 team that finished 15-12, including 10-9 in the NE10, reaching the Conference quarterfinals.
Stonehill's inaugural Division I roster includes:
• Four fifth-year players
• Three new transfers, including two postgrad transfers
• Two Division I transfers, including fifth-year returnee Isaiah Burnett (Navy) and newcomer Thatcher Stone (William & Mary)
• No seniors, three juniors, three sophomores and two freshmen.

Getting Social
Fans and media members of Stonehill athletics have multiple social media outlets to get updates on all 23 varsity programs. The department's Facebook page is www.facebook.com/stonehillskyhawks, and you can also follow @GoStonehill on Twitter and @stonehillskyhawks via Instagram! You can also search for Stonehill men's basketball on Facebook, follow the team's Twitter account via @StonehillBball as well as head coach Chris Kraus @CoachChrisKraus, and its new Instagram feed @stonehillbball. 

Up Next
Stonehill has a week off before returning to action next Tuesday with a matchup at Boston College at 7 p.m. The Skyhawks don't return to Merkert Gym until Thursday, January 5, when it hosts Wagner College for its first Northeast Conference home game at 7 p.m.