Sophomore Daniel Heppert and the Skyhawks have risen to No. 10 in the national polls.

Skyhawks Enter Top 10 In NABC Poll

Kansas City, Mo. - Buoyed by their current 10-game winning streak, the Stonehill men's basketball program has equaled its highest national ranking ever with its 10th-place stop on this week's NABC Division II Coaches' Poll released on Tuesday afternoon.

The Skyhawks were ranked No. 10 midway through the 2005-06 season - a year in which they advanced to the Final Four and won a school-record 27 games.

Stonehill has risen rapidly in the national polls, moving from out of the polls just a month ago to entering the top ten in a similar fashion that the 2005-06 team did. That edition jumped from No. 24 to No. 10 as they tied the school record for consecutive wins (12).

At 16-2 overall and 11-2 in the Northeast-10, the Skyhawks hold a half game lead over UMass-Lowell and a full game edge over their next opponent, Bentley.

Stonehill has put together its winning streak with several stout defensive efforts, highlighted by a pair of wins in which its opponent didn't reach 50 points. The purple and white rank first in the NCAA in field goal percentage defense (37.1) and ninth in scoring defense (60.9) and have held three of their last four opponents to below 40 percent shooting.

The Skyhawks have also excelled on the road this season, posting a perfect 8-0 ledger away from Merkert Gymnasium. Their last two road contests have been down-to-the-wire affairs in which Stonehill has pulled out dramatic victories.

Against Pace, Matt Hall's (Springfield, Mass.) steal of an inbounds pass and subsequent two-handed dunk sealed a 59-56 win. Then in one of the most thrilling wins in recent memory, A.J. Rudowitz (Monroe Township, N.J.) nailed a free throw line jumper at the buzzer after a coast-to-coast drive to give the Skyhawks a 73-72 win over Merrimack. That game-winning basket capped a 38-point, 15-rebound performance for the junior who was named Northeast-10 player of the week for his efforts.

With nine games left on its regular season schedule, Stonehill will play three of its next four games at home before a rematch with UMass-Lowell at Costello Gymnasium on Tuesday, February 10.

Combined with the women's program, Stonehill has the second-best winning percentage among all Division II men's and women's program (32-5, .865) behind only Minnesota-Mankato.