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The Game
Stonehill comes into Friday's Northeast Conference matchup against the FDU Knights on a six-game losing streak, dropping the first four games of conference action to begin league play. Coming off an 0-2 road trip this past weekend, an 81-74 OT loss at FDU and a 64-54 loss at Wagner, the Skyhawks are looking to defend their 2-4 record at Merkert Gym and pick up their first NEC win of the season.

Media Information
Friday's game will be broadcasted on national television on CBS Sports Network with  Dave Popkin (play-by-play), Joe DeSantis (analyst), and Paul Dottino (sideline) calling the action.

Scouting The Knights
FDU enters the NEC matchup having won back-to-back games with one of those wins coming against Stonehill last Friday. The Knights win against the Skyhawks ended a six-game losing streak as FDU got up by 25 points early but had to fight to win the matchup in overtime. The Knights won their most recent matchup at Saint Francis (Pa.) to improve their record on the road to 4-6. FDU has had its fair share of close contests with nine games being decided by single digit margins as the Knights hold a 5-4 record in such matchups. FDU is led by the Northeast Conference's third leading scorer, Ansley Almonor. The junior forward is averaging 15.9 points per game and leads the NEC in 3-point field goals made (55), 3-point field goal percentage (38.7%), and 3-point field goals per game (2.9). Senior forward Sean Moore leads the Knights and the NEC in rebounds per game, averaging 7.8 while putting up the most total offensive boards this season with 55. As a team, FDU has the top scoring offense in the conference, putting up 78.2ppg. The Knights are also the top rebounding team in the league, corralling 37.3 per game.

Against The Knights
Friday's game between the Skyhawks and Knights will mark the eighth meeting all-time between the two programs with Stonehill holding a 4-3 record against FDU. Stonehill went 1-1 against FDU in last year's inaugural Division I season before dropping the most recent matchup to the Knights, 81-74 in overtime on Friday as Stonehill played at Stratis Arena at the Rothman Center for the first time.

Last Time Out
STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. (January 15, 2024) – Stonehill men's basketball traveled to the Spiro Sports Center Monday for a Northeast Conference matchup at Wagner, falling in a low-scoring affair, 64-54, on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. Senior Thatcher Stone (Winchester, Mass.) and sophomore Chas Stinson (Charlotte, N.C.) each tallied 11 points to lead Stonehill. Stinson also corralled seven boards to lead the team. Wagner was led by guard Javier Ezquerra who had game-highs of 16 points, six assists, and four steals. Ezquerra played 39 minutes, hitting on six of his 11 shot attempts while going 3-5 from deep. Wagner would build a 21-point lead, making five straight shot attempts including two three-pointers to take their largest lead of the night at 54-33.
The Seahawks held a double-digit lead for the remainder of the game, closing out the win, 64-54, after a late run from the Skyhawks got them within 10 but it was too late in the contest.
 
Rotating cast
The Skyhawks have used 11 different starting lineups through 19 games this season. Nine different players have started for Stonehill and no Skyhawk has started all 18 games. The Skyhawks have used a different starting unit in five of the last six games. Stonehill's 11 different starting lineups is tied for the third-most unique combinations in all of Division I. Furman (14) and Detroit Mercy (12) are first and second while Eastern Michigan (11) and Vanderbilt (11) are both tied with the Skyhawks.

Road Warriors
Stonehill concluded its non-conference schedule at Rutgers playing its 11th game on the road out of its 15 games up to that point. The Skyhawks, currently 0-13 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.

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 and Felder have both started in 17 games this season while O'Dell has started in all five games he has played in, missing time due to injury. Felder currently leads the team in scoring and assists, also being top-11 in the NEC in both categories. Pavlidis is first on the team in rebounds per game and third in field goal percentage. O'Dell is the teams fourth-best scorer and is fifth 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 play at Hammel Court in North Andover, Mass. for a matchup with Merrimack College  on Sunday, Jan. 21 at 2 p.m. on NEC Front Row.