Smith, Rudowitz Combine For Double-Double Efforts Of 32 Points And 20 Rebounds As Men's Basketball Collects Third Straight Victory With 60-42 Non-League Triumph Over Dominican

December 19, 2006

STONEHILL MEN'S BASKETBALL

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

Merkert Gymnasium, Easton, Mass.

FINAL: STONEHILL 60, DOMINICAN 42

EASTON, Mass.-- Sophomore Nick Smith (Colonia, N.J.) notched a double-double effort of 21 points and 10 rebounds to post his sixth straight 20-plus point performance in leading Stonehill to a 60-42 non-league men's college basketball victory over Dominican Tuesday afternoon at Merkert Gymnasium.

Freshman AJ Rudowitz (Monroe Township, N.J.) joined Smith in recording his second career double-double with 11 points and 10 boards for the host Skyhawks (8-3), who jumped out to a 28-20 lead at the break. After the visiting Chargers (4-4) closed to within five in the first minute following intermission, Stonehill used a quick five-point burst to gain a double-digit lead at 33-23 with 17:27 remaining on a Smith lay-in, but Dominican closed that gap back to three points on a lay-in by senior Stephan Muller (Poughkeepsie, N.Y.) with 8:28 to play. The Skyhawks then scored 20 of the game's final 25 points over that time span, as an 11-0 run by the hosts over a 3:25 span staked their advantage to 14 points, as the Chargers had just two field goals in the closing three minutes of action.

Smith, who has averaged 24.3 points per game since December 5th, and Rudowitz were the only two players in double figures for Stonehill, which also received eight points from senior Soap Toun (Cranston, R.I.) as well as six points each from sophomores Colin Scanlon (Centreville, Va.) and Matt Hall (Springfield, Mass.). The Skyhawks shot 49 percent from the field, including 55 percent in the second half alone, and canned six three-pointers while holding a 43-29 rebounding edge to collect their third win in as many series meetings between the two schools dating back to 2002.

Senior Prince Jackson (Schenectady, N.Y.) paced Dominican in the scoring column with 14 points, while sophomore Shelton Gibbs (Jersey City, N.J.) added 10 points for the Chargers, who also received six points and five rebounds from junior Ron Wyatt (Washingtonville, N.Y.). The visitors shot just 31 percent from the field and missed all eight of their three-point attempts on the day but took advantage of 17 turnovers that they turned into 13 points.

Stonehill hosts Molloy in a non-league outing on Thursday afternoon at Merkert Gymnasium beginning at 3:00 p.m., while Dominican will travel to Bloomfield, N.J. on Thursday evening to take on Bloomfield in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference contest that tips-off at 7:00 p.m.