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Sophomore A.J. Rudowitz shot 57 percent from the field as a freshman. |
South Easton, Mass. - After a 16-12 record a season ago, the Stonehill men's basketball squad has been picked to finish fifth in the annual preseason poll conducted by the 15 Northeast-10 head coaches the conference office announced on Wednesday.
The Skyhawks collected 159 points to wind up four spots behind preseason favorite, Bentley (224 points), who had 14 of the 15 first-place votes.
Saint Rose (200) was picked second, followed by Pace (191), the
only other team to receive a first-place vote. Bryant (162), a team
Stonehill swept in the season series last year, edged out the
Skyhawks for fourth.
The remainder of the field included, in order, Saint Anselm College
(150), American International College (116), Le Moyne College
(103), Merrimack College (101), Assumption College (80), Franklin
Pierce University (80), The University of Massachusetts Lowell
(77), Southern New Hampshire University (73), Saint Michael's
College (68) and Southern Connecticut State University (16).
Stonehill, which returns two of its top three scorers in junior second-team All-Northeast-10 honoree Nick Smith (Colonia, N.J.) and sophomore standout A.J. Rudowitz (Monroe Township, N.J.), open their 2007-08 season with an exhibition game at the University of Rhode Island on Thursday, November 1 at 7 p.m. The regular season begins for Stonehill on Friday, November 9 at the Disney Tip-Off Classic when the Skyhawks take on Barry University.