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Sophomore A.J. Rudowitz scored 10 of his team-high 16 points in the first half. |
Easton, Mass. - Sophomore floor general Randall Stallworth (Toms River, N.J./Monsignor Donovan) hit mid-range jumpers on back-to-back possessions helping Stonehill thwart a furious American International comeback and advance to the Northeast-10 Quarterfinals with a 69-63 win over the visiting Yellow Jackets on Saturday afternoon.
Stonehill, which led by as many as 18 points in the first half, saw American International take the lead at 63-62 on an Aikeem Vanderhorst jumper with 4:50 left. Vanderhorst then drew a charge on Nick Smith (Colonia, N.J./Colonia) on the Skyhawks' next possession, but a costly turnover by the Yellow Jackets on their next trip down the floor set the stage for Stallworth's heroics.
Stonehill came out of the gate on fire, shooting 60 percent from the field in the first half, including five three pointers to take a 44-33 halftime lead.
The first half bulge reached 18 on two occasions, once on a Mike Kernan (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) triple, the other on a pair of free throws from A.J. Rudowitz (Monroe Township, N.J./Monroe). The half also featured a 17-0 Stonehill run midway through the period that forced the visitors to use two timeouts.
American International battled back, however, going on a 13-4 run down the stretch of the first half and then opened the second half on a 14-7 spree that had the Skyhawk lead down to 51-47.
Riding the play of Vanderhorst, who scored 16 of his game high 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting in the second half, the Yellow Jackets stayed close and eventually took the lead before being shutout for the final 2:24 of the game.
The Skyhawks shot 50 percent from the floor for the game (24-of-48), but just 6-for-21 from behind the arc, including a 1-for-11 performance from three-point land in the second half.
Rudowitz and Matt Hall (Springfield, Mass./Central), who went a combined 11-of-22 from the field, each had a team-high 16, while Smith added 13.
Stallworth finished with six points, five assists and two rebounds.
With the win, the Skyhawks improve to 17-13 overall and will move on to face Pace on Monday at 7:30 p.m.
The Setters took this year's earlier matchup in Pleasantville, 82-67, behind 26 points from Desmond Quincy-Jones and 21 from Ryan Williams. Smith did have a double-double (16 points, 11 rebounds) in that contest and Vince Rosario (Perth Amboy, N.J./Cardinal McCarrick) dropped in seven three pointers.
Vernon Dupree and Sesoo Ikpah both had 14 in support of Vanderhorst, who added a game-high seven rebounds to his totals.
American International ends its season at 10-18.