Skyhawks Come Back Bid Falls Short

Freshman Vince Rosario had 18 points in the 83-79 loss to NYIT.

Boxscore 

Old Westbury, N.Y. – New York Tech’s Kirk Stewart scored a game-high 27 points including a key three point play in the waning seconds of the contest that shut the door on Stonehill’s improbable comeback bid in an 83-79 setback for the Skyhawks on Saturday evening.

The loss for Stonehill, their third of the season, came in a similar fashion to the way the previous two defeats came about. After trailing by as many as 14 on several occasions in the first half, the Skyhawks hit the Bears with a 14-1 burst to take a five point lead at 65-60 with 10 minutes remaining.

From that point on it was a back and forth affair, as the game was tied three more times including at 78-78 with 48 seconds left on Matt Hall's (Springfield, Mass.) first free throw. Hall connected on the second as well, giving the lead back to Stonehill. That lead was short-lived, however, as Phillip Jones found Stewart for a layup and then the subsequent free throw gave the Bears a 81-79 lead with 34 seconds left.

A Stonehill turnover forced the Skyhawks to foul and Bryant Lassiter made both of his attempts, upping the NYIT lead to the final score of 83-79.

The Skyhawks have now lost their three games by a combined nine points (four to Grand Valley State, one to Columbus State and four to NYIT) and have trailed by double figures in three before staging comeback attempts.

Hall led a quartet of Stonehill players in double figures with 24 points on nine-for-13 shooting in 34 minutes of action. Freshman Vince Rosario (Perth Amboy, N.J.) had a career-high 18 points, while Nick Smith (Colonia, N.J.) added 13 and A.J. Rudowitz (Monroe Township, N.J.) tallied 12 points and nine rebounds.

Stewart added nine rebounds, six assists and five blocks to his line, while Lassiter also cracked the 20 point barrier with 22 points and seven rebounds.

Stonehill opens up Northeast-10 play with a Tuesday evening tilt on the road at Southern New Hampshire.