Tony Felder scored 20+ points for the third time this season, leading the Skyhawks tonight. (Photo by Jarod Minassian)

FAIRFIELD, Conn. (February 1, 2024) – Stonehill men's basketball dropped a road matchup against Sacred Heart, 77-72, in Northeast Conference play at the William H. Pitt Athletic & Convocation Center Thursday night.

LEADERS

• Sophomore Tony Felder (Brockton, Mass.) netted 20 points on 8-13 shooting while going 50% (4-8) from deep. The sophomore guard also led the Skyhawks with three steals.
• Fifth-year Pano Pavlidis (Queens, N.Y.) matched Sacred Heart's Alex Sobel, grabbing a game-high eight boards while also scoring 11 points in 31 minutes.
• Graduate student Max Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.) had five assists to lead Stonehill for the second consecutive game.
• Joey Reilly led all scorers, tallying 22 points for the Pioneers, knocking down four of his six three-point attempts.
• Sacred Heart's Brendan McGuire dished out 11 helpers to facilitate the offense as the Pioneers finished with 21 assists on 26 made baskets.

FIRST HALF

• Sacred Heart jumped out to a 7-1 lead before going up double-digits as they held a 10-point lead, 26-16, with under eight minutes left in the first half after the Pioneers hit five of their first 10 three-pointers.
• Felder then sparked a 17-7 run for Stonehill, scoring eight points for the Skyhawks while knocking down two threes to tie the score, 33-33 with 1:29 to play in the first half.
• The Pioneers would finish a layup and knock down a three-pointer before a last-second layup from junior Nathan McGill (Dillsburg, Pa.) cut the Sacred Heart lead to 38-35 as the teams went into the break.
• Stonehill shot 50% (13-26) from the field in the first half led by Felder's 13 points on 5-7 shooting.

  Jackson Benigni had 15 points and three steals, currently the team's leading scorer at 12.4ppg. (Photo by Jarod Minassian)

• The Pioneers hit 46.9% (15-32) of their shots and 43.8% (7-16) of their attempts from deep.

SECOND HALF

• Sacred Heart opened the second half scoring with a floater in the paint, but the Skyhawks made their first six shot attempts of the half, igniting a 14-0 run as five different scorers chipped in buckets for Stonehill to take a 49-40 lead.
• After a flawless start to the half, the Skyhawks were outscored 19-4 over a seven-minute stretch as the Pioneers regained a 59-53 lead.
• Sacred Heart carried a comfortable lead into the final minutes of the game before freshman Todd Brogna (Southborough, Mass.) netted a three from the top of the key to make it a four-point game, 69-65, with 1:17 left on the clock.
• The Pioneers finished the game strong, knocking down all six free throw attempts down the stretch to secure a 77-72 win.
• Stonehill finished the game shooting 51% (26-51) from the field and 40.9% (9-22) from long range while Sacred Heart shot 48% (12-25) from deep.

Max Zegarowski dished out a team-high five assists, leading the team for the second consecutive game. (Photo by Jarod Minassian)

NOTEWORTHY

• Stonehill is now 13-23 in 36 games played against Sacred Heart all-time. This was the first loss against the Pioneers since the 1994-95 season after the Skyhawks won the first two meetings a year ago as a new member of the NEC. Stonehill is now 1-1 when traveling to the Pitt Center and 4-9 overall in Fairfield.
• Stonehill started the same lineup for the third consecutive game tonight but are still tied for the fourth-most unique combinations in all of Division I. Eastern Michigan (15) is at the top of the list while Furman (14), Detroit Mercy (14), Jacksonville (13), Kansas City (13), and Milwaukee (13) are the only schools with more combinations than the Skyhawks.
• Felder scored 20+ points for the third time this season and has scored 11+ points in 15 of his 22 games played.
• Felder's three steals marks the ninth time he's swiped 2+ steals and the fifth time he's had 3+ this season.
• Senior Jackson Benigni (East Hampton, Conn.) scored 15 points tonight which is the sixth time he's crossed the 15-point threshold in just 15 games played.
• Zegarowski scored in double figures for the sixth time in the past eight games and knocked down a three-pointer for the eighth straight game.
• Brogna scored in double-figures, marking the fifth time he's done so in his 10 starts this season.

UP NEXT

• Stonehill returns home for the conclusion of the regular season series with Wagner in a Northeast Conference matchup on Saturday, Feb. 3 at 2 p.m. at Merkert Gymnasium. The team will be hosting its annual Alumni Day as well as its Black History Month game.

Tickets for the 2023-24 men's and women's basketball season are on sale now and can be purchased at stonehillskyhawks.com/tickets.

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