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The Game
Stonehill enters Monday afternoon's game at Wagner having lost five straight games, including its first three Northeast Conference matchups. The Skyhawks travel to Staten Island with an 0-12 record on the road with their sights set on their first road win. The Seahawks have posted a 4-1 record from the Spiro Sports Center and are currently 1-1 in NEC games. After losing its NEC opener at LIU, Wagner bounced back with a win at home against Saint Francis U on Jan. 6. Tickets will be $5 for all attendees of Monday's game as the Northeast Conference celebrates Martin Luther King Jr. Day with a full slate of games.

Media Information
Monday afternoon's game will be broadcasted digitally on NEC Front Row with Joey Wahler (play-by-play) and Ryan Peters (analyst) on the call for the Seahawks.

Scouting The Seahawks
Wagner is 7-7 on the year and 1-1 in Northeast Conference play, currently ranking first in the conference in team defense, only allowing 62.7 points per game which is also the 11th best defense in all of Division I. The Seahawks allow teams to shoot at a minimal 42.2% clip from the field which is the second lowest mark in the NEC. Teams are also shooting 29% from deep against Wagner, the lowest percentage in the conference. The Seahawks have turned the ball over the least in the conference with just 132 all season (9.4 per game), thanks in part to junior guard Javier Ezquerra who is averaging 3.9 assists per game, the third-best mark in the conference, and just 1.6 turnovers per game. Junior Melvin Council Jr. is the Seahawks leading scorer, averaging 14.3 points per game as he's a top-five scorer in the conference. 

Against The Seahawks
Monday's game between Stonehill and Wagner is the third time the teams have matched up as NEC opponents and the fifth matchup overall as the all-time series dates back to 1973. The two teams split the regular season series a year ago as  both programs defended home court in each matchup.

Last Time Out
HACKENSACK, N.J. (January 13, 2024) – Stonehill men's basketball trailed by as much as 25 points against FDU at Stratis Arena Saturday afternoon before falling to the Knights in overtime, 81-74, in a Northeast Conference matchup. Sophomore Tony Felder (Brockton, Mass.) led Stonehill with 18 points with all 18 coming in the second half amidst the Skyhawk comeback. FDU's Jo'el Emanuel scored 29 points to lead all scorers, netting 13 free throws in the win for the Knights. Six turnovers from the Skyhawks led to a 15-3 scoring outburst from FDU as the Knights mounted their largest lead of the game with just under three minutes to play in the half, 40-15. Stonehill carried its momentum from the end of the first half into the second, scoring the first 15 points as the Skyhawks capped off a 23-0 run to make the score 40-38 before FDU finally made a layup to end the run with 15 minutes left in the game. Both teams missed chances to break the tie in the final seconds of the game as Stonehill and the Knights headed to overtime. FDU went 11-14 from the line OT and led for almost the entire five minutes, winning the game 81-74 after a hard-fought battle in Hackensack, N.J.
 
Rotating cast
The Skyhawks have had 11 different starting lineups through 18 games this season. Nine different players have started for Stonehill and no Skyhawk has started all 18 games. The Skyhawks have used a different starting unit in five straight games.

Road Warriors
Stonehill concluded its non-conference schedule at Rutgers playing its 11th game on the road out of its 15 games up to that point. The Skyhawks, currently 0-11 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). When the Skyhawks played at Miami (Fla.) on Dec. 21, Florida marked 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 and Felder have both started in 16 games this season while O'Dell has started in all five games he has played in, missing time due to injury. Felder currently leads the team in scoring and assists, also being top-10 in the NEC in both categories. Pavlidis is first on the team in rebounds per game and third in field goal percentage. O'Dell is the teams fourth-best scorer and is fifth in field goal percentage when he suits up.

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. Prior to 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 continues Northeast Conference play at Merkert Gymnasium on Friday, Jan. 19 at 5 p.m. as FDU comes to Easton, Mass. The game wil be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network.