EASTON, Mass. (January 4, 2024) – Stonehill men's basketball opened its Northeast Conference slate Thursday night, falling to Central Connecticut State at Merkert Gymnasium, 74-59.

LEADERS

• Sophomore Chas Stinson (Charlotte, N.C.) led the Skyhawks in scoring and rebounding for the second straight game with 17 points and eight rebounds.
• Junior Thatcher Stone (Winchester, Mass.) reached a career-high four assists to lead Stonehill.
• CCSU was led by Allan Jeanne-Rose who scored a game-high 22 points with eight rebounds and two steals.
• Kellen Amos also hit 20 points for the Blue Devils, hitting on eight of his 14 shot attempts.
• Tre Breland had a game-high 10 rebounds in 32 minutes off the bench for Central Connecticut.

FIRST HALF

• Stinson scored the first bucket of the game with a strong drive to the basket and a finish at the rim.
• Freshman Todd Brogna (Southborough, Mass.) knocked down a three-pointer to make the score 5-2 but CCSU responded with an 8-0 run to take the lead.
• A massive throwdown from Brogna over the Blue Devil defender followed by a Stinson free throw made the score 13-10 with CCSU leading, but the two teams would go scoreless over the next three minutes until freshman Se'yphon Triplett (Springfield, Mass.) hit a jumper with 11:32 left in the first half.
• CCSU hit five straight shots from the field in just over two minutes of play to build a 30-21 lead at the 4:23 mark of the first.
• Stinson would go on an 8-0 run of his own with three straight scores, including two three-pointers while the Skyhawks held the Blue Devils scoreless as the score at halftime read 30-29 with CCSU leading.
• Stonehill shot the ball at a 39.3% (11-28) clip in the first half while Central Connecticut was held to 34.3% (12-35).

SECOND HALF

• Allan Jeanne-Rose began the second half with a layup on the opening possession for the Blue Devils, but layups from Stinson and Stone followed by a three-pointer from graduate student Max Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.) gave Stonehill its first lead since the score was 5-4 in the first half.
• 36-35 would be the final lead for the Skyhawks as Kellen Amos hit a three for CCSU to put them back in front 38-36 as they would lead for most of the final 17:48 of the game.
• Triplett tied the score at 42-42 with a strong finish above the rim for the Skyhawks before Central Connecticut went on a 9-0 run to pull ahead halfway through the second half.
• Stonehill would cut it back down to four after Stone drove into the lane and wrapped a pass around to junior Nathan McGill (Dillsburg, Pa.) who was spotting up in the corner, ready to knock down the long-range shot.
• CCSU led 53-49 after the McGill corner three, but the Blue Devils extended their lead to 17 with a 13-0 run to make the score 66-49 with 4:15 left in the game.
• The Central Connecticut State lead was too much for the Skyhawks as CCSU won the game 74-59 in the conference opener.
• The Blue Devils finished the game shooting 42.9% (27-63) after a strong second half that saw CCSU shoot 53.6% (15-28).
• Stonehill shot 40.7% (24-49) from the while holding Central Connecticut to just a 21.4% (6-28) shooting clip from deep.

NOTEWORTHY

• Stonehill falls to 7-28 in the all-time series with Central Connecticut State. Despite the lopsided record in favor of the Blue Devils, the Skyhawks now hold a 5-3 record at Merkert Gym.
• Stonehill won its conference opener a season ago against Sacred Heart, 74-67 on Dec. 29, 2022, starting off the transition to the Northeast Conference 1-0.
• Dating back to the 2021-22 season when Stonehill was still in the highly competitive Northeast-10 conference in Division II, the Skyhawks had won back-to-back conference openers until tonight.
• The Skyhawks played their fifth game at home this season after beginning with 11 of their first 15 games away from Merkert Gym.
• Tonight's starting lineup marks the ninth different starting five for Stonehill in 16 games. This was the third straight game with a new starting unit.
• Stinson led the Skyhawks on the glass for the fifth straight game, averaging 8.2 rebounds per game over five consecutive starts.
• Stinson, coming off a NEC Player of the Week honor for his 23-point, 12-rebound performance at Rutgers last week, is averaging 11.6 points per game and 8.2rpg over his last five games.
• In three starts this season, Brogna is averaging 10.7ppg, 7.3rpg, and 1.7 assists per game in 33.3 minutes per contest.

UP NEXT

• Stonehill continues its Northeast Conference schedule with another home game at Merkert Gym against LIU on Saturday at 2 p.m.  

Tickets for the 2023-24 men's and women's basketball season are on sale now and can be purchased at stonehillskyhawks.com/tickets. Season ticket options are available including a men's and women's combination pass, valid for all 27 home games this year.

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