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The Game
Stonehill begins Northeast Conference play Thursday night against Central Connecticut State at Merkert Gymnasium for the Skyhawks fifth home game of the season. After playing 11 non-conference games on the road, includings its last two at Miami and at Rutgers, Stonehill looks to improve on its 2-2 home record when the Blue Devils come to town. With NEC play underway, the Skyhawks get a fresh start after losing 11 straight on the road to start the year. CCSU comes into the contest with a 3-5 record on the road including wins at Army West Point, UMass Lowell, and Fordham. The Blue Devils have won two straight heading into league play and finished non-conference action with the second-best record in the NEC at 6-7.

Media Information
Thursday night'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.

Scouting The Blue Devils
Central Connecticut State enters the game with the top scoring margin in the Northeast Conference, outscoring its opponents by 6.3 points per game. The Blue Devils 73.5 points per game is the third-best scoring offense in the conference while their stout defense allows just 67.2 points per game, the second-best mark in the NEC. CCSU holds the top FG% in the conference at 45.7% and are one of just two teams in the conference averaging 5+ blocks per game. The Blue Devils leading scorere is grad student Allan Jeanne-Rose, the fourth ranked scorer in the NEC at 14.8ppg. His 60.3% field goal percentage is at the top of the NEC leaderboards. The Blue Devils have four of the top-10 shot blockers in the NEC while senior Jordan Jones, averaging 12ppg and 2.2 steals per game has him ranked third in the conference in steals.

Against the Blue devils
This afternoon marks the 35th meeting all-time between these two programs. Central Connecticut State holds a 27-7 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 1960 with the Blue Devils notching a 94-90 triple overtime win in the last meeting on Feb. 18, 2023 at Detrick Gym in New Britain, Conn. Despite the lopsided record against CCSU, Stonehill holds a 5-2 record at Merkert Gym when the Blue Devils travel to Easton including a 51-49 Stonehill win on Jan. 7, 2023 in the first Division I encounter between the two teams.

Last Time Out
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (December 30, 2023) – Sophomore Chas Stinson (Charlotte, N.C.) notched career-highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds, posting his first career double-double as Stonehill men's basketball narrowly lost to Rutgers University in front of a sold-out Jersey Mike's Arena Saturday afternoon, 59-58. Stinson led all scorers, going 8-11 from the field and 2-3 from three to tally 23 points. His career-high 12 rebounds also led Stonehill. His double-double is the first of the season for any Skyhawk. Freshman Todd Brogna (Southborough, Mass.) knocked down a career-high four three-pointers to lead all shooters from long range, scoring 12 points in the loss. Rutgers was led by its captain, Cliff Omoruyi, who scored 17 points and corralled a game-high 17 rebounds. The big man went 11-20 from the free-throw line while blocking a game-high three shots. A pair of defensive stops from both teams led to the Scarlet Knights getting the ball back with under 20 seconds to play when Derek Simpson drilled a fastbreak three-pointer from the right wing that would end up as the game-winning shot, giving Rutgers a 59-58 lead with 14 seconds left. Felder had a shot to win the game with three seconds left, but strong defense from the Scarlet Knights forced him into a fading jumper that missed the mark as Rutgers narrowly defeated the Skyhawks to close out non-conference play.

Dueling Alums
Stonehill and Central Connecticut State are both led by head coaches who are alumni of their institutions. Stonehill head coach Chris Kraus is a 2006 graduate and former student-athlete in his tenth year in charge at his alma mater. CCSU's Patrick Sellers is a 1991 graduate of CCSU, where he was a member of the Blue Devils. The duo are among four men's coaches in the NEC in charge of their alma maters along with Saint Francis' Rob Krimmel, '00 and Merrimack's Joe Gallo '04.

Stonehill Ties
Central Connecticut State director of athletics Tom Pincince is a 1997 Stonehill graduate, where he was a four-year letterwinner on the football program. The former Stonehill quarterback still ranks among several single-season and career passing lists during his time in Easton. Pincince was named AD at CCSU in January of 2022 after three years in an interim capacity. He is currently in his 22nd year at the University overall.
 
Rotating cast
The Skyhawks have had eight different starting lineups through the first 15 games of the season. Nine different players have started for Stonehill, with only fifth-year transfer Pano Pavlidis starting all 15 contests.  Stonehill began the season using three different starting lineups in the first three games before rolling out the same lineup for the next four games until junior transfer Shane O'Dell fell out of the lineup due to an injury.  Stonehill started the same five for the next three games before another injury, this time to senior Jackson Benigni, forced another change to the starting lineup.

Road Warriors
Stonehill concluded its non-conference schedule on Saturday at Rutgers playing its 11th game on the road out of its 15 games this season. The Skyhawks, currently 0-11 when traveling from Easton, Mass., scheduled 11 of their 15 non-conference games to be played on the road. The meat of the road schedule came in November as Stonehill played five straight games (Nov. 11-Nov. 26) away from Merkert Gym. During the five-game stretch, the Skyhawks played in four different states, Connecticut (at UConn, at Quinnipiac), Pennsylvania (at St. Joseph's (Pa.)), Kentucky (at the University of Kentucky), and Texas (at Texas A&M-Commerce). When the Skyhawks played at Miami (Fla.) on Dec. 21, Florida marked the tenth and final state that Stonehill has played in this season.

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 15 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 scoring and assists, also being top-10 in the NEC in both categories. Pavlidis is second on the team in rebounds per game and in field goal percentage. O'Dell is the teams fourth-best scorer and is third in field goal percentage when he suits up.

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. Prior to 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 continues Northeast Conference action with another matchup at Merkert Gymnasium on Saturday when LIU comes to Easton, Mass. at 2 p.m.