Senior Brian Hamor led all scorers with 19 points, moving within a point of becoming the 36th 1,000 points scorer in oprgram history. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane) |
Skyhawks can't recover from first half drought as Hamor nears 1,000th point
LOWELL, Mass. (November 28, 2012) – Stonehill College, ranked 23rd in this week's National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II poll, missed its first 17 shots from the field over the first 16-plus minutes and couldn't recover, dropping a 75-55 decision to the University of Massachusetts Lowell, among teams receiving votes in the NABC poll, in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at Costello Athletic Center tonight.
Junior Antonio Bivins (Miami, Fla./American) paced UMass Lowell with a double-double effort of 16 points and 11 rebounds as he hit 7-of-9 shots from the field and converted both free-throw attempts to go with four blocked shots. Classmate Akeem Williams (Brockton, Mass./The Winchendon School) scored 17 points to go with four assists and three rebounds, while senior Matt Welch (Lowell, Mass./Lowell) posted 13 points and nine rebounds.
Sophomore Chad Holley (New York, N.Y./Blue Ridge School) contributed 12 points on 4-of-8 shooting from the field and 4-for-6 at the line with four rebounds, five assists and two steals. Freshman DJ Mlachnik (Muskego, Wis./St. John's Northwestern Military Academy) chipped in with 11 points on 4-of-7 shooting, including 2-for-5 from three-point range, four rebounds and two assists off the bench.
Senior Brian Hamor (Guilderland, N.Y./Bishop Gibbons) led all scorers with 19 points for Stonehill, moving within a point of becoming the program's 36th 1,000 point scorer, to go with three rebounds, two assists and two steals. Hamor enters this weekend with 999 points in 98 career games.
Freshman Josh Heyliger chipped in eight points and four rebounds. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane) |
Senior Adam Fazzini (Drums, Pa./Crestwood) was the only other Stonehill player in double-figures with 11 points, aided by 3-of-9 shooting from three-point range, and four rebounds. Freshman Josh Heyliger (Bear, Del./The Hill School) chipped in eight points, three offensive rebounds and a pair of blocked shots off the bench.
Stonehill missed its first 16 shots from the field over the first 16:22 as UMass Lowell scored the first five points of the game and jumped out to a 12-1 lead after a jumper from Greg DeSantis (Trumbull, Conn./Notre Dame Fairfield) 6:36 into the game. The Skyhawks made just 3-of-21 shots from the field (14.3-percent) in the opening frame, including 2-for-9 from three-point range. Stonehill went to the line 20 times in the first 20 minutes, but connected on just 10 (50%), and finished shooting 27.6% (16-58) overall in the game.
UMass Lowell shot 50% (28-56) from the field, including 58.1% (18-31) in the first half in building a 26 point (44-18) lead at the intermission. The River Hawks posted a 45-34 rebounding advantage as well.
Senior Raheem May-Thompson (London, England/Towson Catholic (Md.)) drained two free-throws to pull Stonehill back within nine (12-3) with 11:28 to go in the half. UMass Lowell kept running and pushed the lead to 13 (18-5) when Welch made one of two at the line. The River Hawks lead grew to 22 (29-7) after a Welch layup with five minutes left in the half, and then went to 23 (33-10) with a Williams layup with 4:09 left in the half.
Heyliger broke the Stonehill drought with a layup with 3:38 to play in the half, but UMass Lowell pushed the lead to 25 with a Mlachnik jumper with 2:16 to go before the break. The River Hawks took a 26 point lead (41-15) after a Welch jumper before Mlachnik canned another three to run the UML lead to 29 (44-15) eight seconds before the break.
Stonehill closed within 16 (65-49) after a three pointer from freshman Carter Smith (Columbus, Ohio) with 4:45 left, however it proved to be the closest the Skyhawks would get, the rest of the way.
Stonehill (2-2, 1-2 NE-10) returns home on Saturday to host Saint Michael's College at 3:30 p.m. UMass Lowell (4-1, 2-1 NE-10) hosts Merrimack College on Saturday at 4 p.m.
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