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The Game
Stonehill enters Thursday night's matchup with Miami coming off of its first win since Nov. 9 against Army West Point. The 71-44 win over Hartford at Merkert Gym improved the Skyhawks to 2-2 at home. Stonehill travels to Miami with an 0-9 record on the road, set to play its tenth road game of the season in its 14th game. This is the first meeting in program history between the Hurricanes and the Skyhawks, with this being the second Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) opponent that Stonehill has played. In the Skyhawks first Division I season, Stonehill narrowly lost to Boston College, 63-56, on Dec. 13, 2022 at the Conte Forum. Over the past three games, Stonehill has allowed just 64.0ppg over the past three games, a +16.8 point difference from the 80.8 points per game the Skyhawks are allowing this season.

Media Information
Thursday night's non-conference matchup at Miami will be broadcasted live on national television on the ACC Network as part of ESPN's family of networks. On the call are Doug Sherman (play-by-play) and Dan Bonner (analyst) calling the action.

Scouting The Hurricanes
The Hurricanes are 6-0 when playing from the comforts of the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla., most recently coming off an 84-77 win over La Salle on Saturday night.  Miami is one of the best three-point shooting teams in the country, shooting an impressive 41.23% from long range this season. The Canes are fifth in free throw percentage in all of Div. I with a 79.67% clip from the charity stripe. Miami is ranked ninth in the country in effective field goal percentage at 58.2% while being 13th in field goal percentage, shooting 50.77%. Miami's Wooga Poplar leads the Hurricanes as one of three players at the Div. I level shooting over 50% from deep, as he's hitting on a 51.02% (25-49) clip.

Last Time Out
EASTON, Mass. (December 17, 2023) – Stonehill College men's basketball ended its 10-game losing streak with a 71-44 win over the University of Hartford at Merkert Gymnasium Sunday afternoon. Sophomore Tony Felder (Brockton, Mass.) and fifth-year Pano Pavlidis (Queens, N.Y.) each tallied 15 points to lead all scorers. Sophomore Chas Stinson (Charlotte, N.C.) and Pavlidis corralled six boards each to lead the Skyhawks. Josh Petion led Hartford with 11 points and six rebounds, logging 23 minutes off the bench. Stonehill finished the game shooting 52% (26-50) from the field, its second-highest mark of the season. Hartford was held to just a 31.5% (17-54) shooting day. This was the first non-division I team on Stonehill's schedule this season and the first for the Skyhawks since a 92-45 win over Eastern Nazarene on Nov. 30, 2022, last season. Freshman Louie Semona (Cincinatti, Ohio) set a new career-high, scoring 10 points and knocking down two three-pointers for the third time in the last four games.

Rotating Cast
The Skyhawks have already had seven different starting lineups through the first 13 games of the season. Nine different players have started for Stonehill, with only grad student Max Zegarowski and fifth-year transfer Pano Pavlidis starting all 13 contests.  Stonehill started the season using three different starting lineups in the first three games before rolling out the same starting lineup for the next four games until junior transfer Shane O'Dell fell out of the lineup due to an injury at TAMUC on Nov. 20.  Stonehill started the same five for the next three games before another injury, this time to senior Jackson Benigni, forced another change to the starting lineup.

Road Warriors
Stonehill enters Sunday's game playing its 10th game on the road out of its 14 games this season. The Skyhawks, currently 0-9 when traveling from Easton, Mass., scheduled 11 of their 15 non-conference games to be played on the road. The meat of the road schedule came in November as Stonehill played five straight games (Nov. 11-Nov. 26) away from Merkert Gym. During the five-game stretch, the Skyhawks played in four different states, Connecticut (at UConn, at Quinnipiac), Pennsylvania (at St. Joseph's (Pa.)), Kentucky (at the University of Kentucky), and Texas (at Texas A&M-Commerce). Florida will be the tenth and final state that Stonehill has played in this season.

Transfer Trio
Stonehill saw three new faces join the team for the 2023-24 season through the transfer portal. Sophomore Tony Felder (Virginia Military Institute), junior Shane O'Dell (Saint Rose), and Pano Pavlidis (Hartford). Despite all three being newcomers, the trio has made an instant impact for the Skyhawks as Pavlidis has started all 13 games while Felder has started all but one and O'Dell has started in all five games he has played in, only missing time due to injury. Felder currently leads the team in assists while ranking third in scoring and steals per game. Pavlidis is first on the team in field goal percentage and rebounds per game. O'Dell is the teams fourth-best scorer and is second in field goal percentage.

Preseason Prognostications
Stonehill was picked to finish ninth in its first Northeast Conference season by the league's head coaches before they finished in a tie for second place as they went 10-6. This season, they were voted to finish in sixth place, three spots higher after their strong debut to the NEC in 2022-23.  

Tough Slate
Stonehill has picked up where it left off last season when it comes to assembling a  tough non-conference slate, featuring three pre-season ranked opponents and two of the NCAA Final Four teams from this past March. They'll take on teams from the Big East  (1 - #5 UConn), ACC (1 - #12 Miami), SEC (1 - #17 Kentucky), Big Ten (1 - Rutgers), A-10 (2- Saint Joseph's (Pa.), George Washington), Patriot League (1 - Army), America East (3 - UMass Lowell, Binghamton, New Hampshire), and the MAAC (2 - Quinnipiac, Rider) leading up to their second season of NEC play. 11 of the Skyhawks 15 non-conference games will be played on the road.

Ranked Rigor
Stonehill enters the season with three nationally ranked opponents from the AP/Coaches Preseason Poll, No. 6 UConn, No. 13 Miami, and No. 16 Kentucky. Entering the 2023-24 season, the Skyhawks had never faced a nationally ranked Division I opponent in its programs history.

Windy City Welcome
The Northeast Conference announced on Tuesday that Chicago State University has accepted full membership to the Conference starting on July 1, 2024. Chicago State is set to join NEC charter members FDU, Long Island University, Saint Francis University and Wagner College, alongside Central Connecticut State University (admitted in 1997), Stonehill College (admitted in 2022), and Le Moyne College (admitted in 2023). The inclusion of Chicago State markedly expands the NEC footprint, now encompassing three of the United States' top 10 media markets: New York City (No. 1), Chicago (No. 3) and Boston (No. 8). Located on Chicago's south side, CSU offers 15 varsity intercollegiate athletic programs, all of which are sponsored by the NEC. The Cougars field seven men's teams and eight women's teams. Sports sponsorship at CSU includes men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field, and women's volleyball. Chicago State will be integrated into NEC athletic schedules beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. The Cougars will gainimmediate eligibility to participate in all NEC championships and earn the conference's automatic qualifier to NCAA Championships. Founded in 1867, Chicago State holds the distinction of being the sole four-year Predominantly Black Institution (PBI) in Illinois as designated by the U.S. Department of Education. Boasting an enrollment of nearly 3,000, Chicago State ranks No. 1 in tuition affordability in the Chicagoland area and is in the top 4 percent nationally for boosting graduates' economic mobility

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, 2022. The Skyhawks started their four-year transition on July 1, 2022, 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 this year, in 2023-24.

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, in 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 in 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 was a charter member 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.

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 plays its last game of 2023 against Rutgers University for its first-ever Big Ten matchup, playing at Jersey Mikes Arena in Piscataway, N.J. on Saturday, Dec. 30 at 12 p.m.