GAMEDAY CENTRAL: Men's Basketball to Host Hartford for Sunday Matinee


Stonehill Skyhawks
(1-11, 0-0 NEC)

at

Hartford Hawks
(4-4, 2-1 CCC)

Sunday, December 17, 2023
Merkert Gymnasium

Easton, Mass.
  2 p.m.


  

Purchase Tickets

Live Video

Live Stats

Official Skyhawk Shop

Stonehill Hartford
Roster Roster
Schedule Schedule
Statistics Statistics
Game Notes Game Notes
                     

The Game
Stonehill enter's Sunday's matchup with Division III Hartford on a 10 game losing streak, with eight of the 10 losses coming on the road. The Skyhawks have began the season playing nine of their first 12 games away from the comforts of Merkert Gymnasium. Sunday's game will be the fourth home game of the season for Stonehill with its lone win of the season coming against Army West Point at Merkert Gym. Hartford comes into the non-conference matchup as a reclassifying D3 institution, playing its first season as the newest member of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC). Through the first eight games of the Hawks first D3 campaign, they boast a 4-4 record and have gone 2-1 in conference matchups. In the most recent Hartford game, the Hawks fell to Johnson & Wales, 73-63. This will be the first non-Division I opponent of the season for Stonehill while the Skyhawks are the lone Divison I team on Hartfords slate this season.

SAAC Toy Drive
Stonehill SAAC will be holding a Toy Drive at Sunday afternoon's game in partnership with the locally run charitable organization from Easton, My Brother's Keeper. My Brother's keeper will be donating all Toys from Sunday's game to children and families in need!


Media Information
Sunday afternoon's game will be broadcasted digitally on NEC Front Row with Charlie Bergeron (play-by-play) and Brian Buckley (analyst) calling the action for the Skyhawks. The game will be broadcast live on WSHL, the Stonehill student radio station with Chris Robbins and Andrew Nilsen on the call.


Last Time Out
DURHAM, N.H. (December 11, 2023) – Stonehill College men's basketball fell on the road at the University of New Hampshire, 75-62, at Lundholm Gymnasium Monday night, capping off a three-game road trip. Sophomore Chas Stinson (Charlotte, N.C.) had a great all-around performance for the Skyhawks, setting three new career-high marks, grabbing 11 rebounds, dishing out four assists, and blocking two shots. All three statistics led Stonehill in Monday night's road matchup. Graduate student Max Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.) was Stonehill's leading scorer as he tallied 18 points with three makes from deep on a 50% (6-12) shooting clip from the field. Clarence Daniels recorded a game-high 20 points, 12 rebounds, and 38 minutes in the Wildcat win. Stonehill faced its third America East opponent of the season, falling to 0-3 against the conference in its final AE matchup following earlier losses to both UMass Lowell and Binghamton at Merkert Gym. The Skyhawks have started seven different starting fives in 12 games this season as tonight marked the fourth straight game with a different starting lineup on the floor to begin the game.

Transfer Trio
Stonehill saw three new faces join the team for the 2023-24 season through the transfer portal. Sophomore Tony Felder (Virginia Military Institute), junior Shane O'Dell (Saint Rose), and Pano Pavlidis (Hartford). Despite all three being newcomers, the trio has made an instant impact for the Skyhawks as Pavlidis has started all 12 games while Felder has started all but one and O'Dell has started in all five games he has played in, only missing time due to injury. Felder currently leads the team in assists while ranking third in scoring and steals per game. Pavlidis is first on the team in field goal percentage and rebounds per game. O'Dell is the teams fourth-best scorer and is second in field goal percentage.


Preseason Prognostications
Stonehill was picked to finish ninth in its first Northeast Conference season by the league's head coaches before they finished in a tie for second place as they went 10-6. This season, they were voted to finish in sixth place, three spots higher after their strong debut to the NEC in 2022-23.  

Tough Slate
Stonehill has picked up where it left off last season when it comes to assembling a  tough non-conference slate, featuring three pre-season ranked opponents and two of the NCAA Final Four teams from this past March. They'll take on teams from the Big East  (1 - #5 UConn), ACC (1 - #12 Miami), SEC (1 - #17 Kentucky), Big Ten (1 - Rutgers), A-10 (2- Saint Joseph's (Pa.), George Washington), Patriot League (1 - Army), America East (3 - UMass Lowell, Binghamton, New Hampshire), and the MAAC (2 - Quinnipiac, Rider) leading up to their second season of NEC play. 11 of the Skyhawks 15 non-conference games will be played on the road.

Ranked Rigor
Stonehill enters the season with three nationally ranked opponents from the AP/Coaches Preseason Poll, No. 6 UConn, No. 13 Miami, and No. 16 Kentucky. Entering the 2023-24 season, the Skyhawks had never faced a nationally ranked Division I opponent in its programs history.

Windy City Welcome
The Northeast Conference announced on Tuesday that Chicago State University has accepted full membership to the Conference starting on July 1, 2024. Chicago State is set to join NEC charter members FDU, Long Island University, Saint Francis University and Wagner College, alongside Central Connecticut State University (admitted in 1997), Stonehill College (admitted in 2022), and Le Moyne College (admitted in 2023). The inclusion of Chicago State markedly expands the NEC footprint, now encompassing three of the United States' top 10 media markets: New York City (No. 1), Chicago (No. 3) and Boston (No. 8). Located on Chicago's south side, CSU offers 15 varsity intercollegiate athletic programs, all of which are sponsored by the NEC. The Cougars field seven men's teams and eight women's teams. Sports sponsorship at CSU includes men's and women's basketball, men's and women's cross country, men's and women's golf, men's and women's soccer, men's and women's tennis, men's and women's indoor and outdoor track and field, and women's volleyball. Chicago State will be integrated into NEC athletic schedules beginning with the 2024-25 academic year. The Cougars will gainimmediate eligibility to participate in all NEC championships and earn the conference's automatic qualifier to NCAA Championships. Founded in 1867, Chicago State holds the distinction of being the sole four-year Predominantly Black Institution (PBI) in Illinois as designated by the U.S. Department of Education. Boasting an enrollment of nearly 3,000, Chicago State ranks No. 1 in tuition affordability in the Chicagoland area and is in the top 4 percent nationally for boosting graduates' economic mobility

In Transition
Stonehill announced it had accepted an invitation to join the Northeast Conference and commence a four-year transition to full NCAA Division I membership on April 5, 2022. The Skyhawks started their four-year transition on July 1, 2022, and will earn full NCAA Division I membership in 2026-27. At the June NEC meetings, the Conference presidents announced a shift in the waiting period for automatic qualifier sports from competing for NEC postseason championships from four to two years, making Stonehill eligible to compete in the NEC postseason starting this year, in 2023-24.

Proud History
Stonehill won the Northeast-10 Presidents' Cup six times, finishing in the top three in the final standings 15 of the last 17 years. Stonehill was one of just ten institutions nationwide to receive the NCAA Division II Presidents' Award for Academic Achievement, recognizing athletic departments with an Academic Success rating of 90-percent or better, in each of the first ten years of the program's existence. The College ranks No. 98 in the category of National Liberal Arts Schools by U.S. News & World Report and No. 94 in the Best Value category.

Hoop History
Stonehill men's basketball earned 15 NCAA Division II Tournament bids over its history, the last was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Stonehill was a charter member of the Northeast-10 Conference, winning the first two tournament championships in 1981 and '82, finishing its time in the Conference with four postseason titles and six regular season championships.

Getting Social
Fans and media members of Stonehill Athletics have multiple social media outlets to get updates on all 23 varsity programs. The department's Facebook page is www.facebook.com/stonehillskyhawks, and you can also follow @GoStonehill on Twitter and @stonehillskyhawks via Instagram! You can also search for Stonehill men's basketball on Facebook, follow the team's Twitter account via @StonehillBball as well as head coach Chris Kraus @CoachChrisKraus, and its new Instagram feed @stonehillbball. 

Up Next
Stonehill is back on the road for a matchup with the #24 University of Miami on Thursday, Dec. 21 at the Watsco Center in Coral Gables, Fla.