Skyhawks Look For Win No. 14 At LeMoyne

Skyhawks Look For Win No. 14 At LeMoyne
 

At 47 percent from three-point land, freshman Vince Rosario not only leads the Northeast-10 but ranks seventh in the country in three-point marksmanship. 



North Easton, Mass. - With a week off between games, Stonehill returns to the hardwood Saturday afternoon with a road contest against a LeMoyne squad who has had the Skyhawks number in their last three meetings, including taking a season-ending, 61-54 win in the opening round of the Northeast-10 Tournament last year.

The Dolphins, who snapped a three game losing streak with an overtime win at St. Michael's on Wednesday, are 8-8 in the Northeast-10 and 10-11 overall.

For Stonehill, at 13-8 overall, the next five games will prove to be crucial for their postseason positioning. They hold a one game lead over Pace for the fourth spot in the Conference standings. In the Northeast-10, the top four teams receive byes in the first round of the postseason Conference tournament. The Setters, by virtue of their win over the Skyhawks last Saturday, would hold a tiebreaker should it be necessary.

Following Saturday's tilt at LeMoyne, a place they haven't won at since the early part of 2004, Stonehill will square off with two teams ahead of them in the Conference standings (Bentley, Assumption) and two teams they have faced on the road already this season (UMass-Lowell, Southern New Hampshire).

An advantage for the Skyhawks is that five of their final eight contests are at home, including matchups with the nation's No. 1 team, Bentley, in addition to Southern New Hampshire and UMass-Lowell. They will also host Merrimack and Bryant at Merkert Gymnasium and play Assumption and St. Anselm on the road before postseason play begins.

After back-to-back losses to the Conference's two top teams, Bentley and St. Rose, the Skyhawks have won eight of its last 10 contests and with four players averaging double figures, Stonehill has one of the most balanced offenses in the Conference.

Nick Smith (Colonia, N.J./Colonia) leads the Skyhawks at 15.9 points per game, making 41 percent of his three-pointers. He is closely followed by Matt Hall (Springfield, Mass./Springfield Central) at 14.6 and A.J. Rudowitz (Monroe Township, N.J./Monroe) who is scoring 11.8 points and grabbing a team-best 6.0 rebounds. Over his last 10 contests, Rudowitz is shooting 59 percent from the field.

Freshman Vince Rosario (Perth Amboy, N.J./Cardinal McCarrick) is averaging 11.2 points off the bench in just 22 minutes per game. He is coming off a game in which he made seven three-pointers and scored 21 points. He leads the Northeast-10 in three-point percentage (.475) and is tied with Smith in three-pointers made (57). During the Skyhawks midseason run, he has connected on 51 percent of his attempts from behind the arc (33-for-64).

Sophomore Randall Stallworth (Toms River, N.J./Monsignor Donovan) has been excellent at distributing the ball as of late. He has 18 assists and only one turnover in his last two games, including an eight-assist, no turnover performance in the loss at Pace. In his last four contests, he has 29 assists and just six miscues, nearly a five-to-one assist-to-turnover ratio.

On Saturday, the Skyhawks will need to contain LeMoyne's star post player, Laurence Ekperigin. Just a sophomore, Ekperigin is third in the Northeast-10 in scoring (18.7), sixth in rebounding (9.0) and second in field goal percentage (.643). He has been in double figures in 20 of 21 contests and has nine double-doubles.