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Freshman Mike Kernan scored a career-high 14 points and grabbed six rebounds in the 85-74 win over Franklin Pierce. |
North Easton, Mass. - Junior Matt Hall (Springfield, Mass.) came out on fire, dropping in three pointers on consecutive possessions en route to a game-high 18 points in just 22 minutes as Stonehill evened its record at 4-4 with an 85-74 win over visiting Franklin Pierce on Saturday afternoon at Merkert Gymnasium.
Hall went 7-for-8 from the field, including a thunderous dunk late in the second half that gave the Skyhawks its biggest lead of 21 points at 76-55 win 3:55 remaining.
Stonehill trailed at 27-26 with 3:29 left in the first half, but the Skyhawks closed the frame on an 8-0 run on three pointers from Mike Kernan (Medford, N.J.), Nick Smith (Colonia, N.J.) and a pull up jumper from Randall Stallworth (Perth Amboy, N.J.).
The run continued as the second half began, with Stonehill scoring 10 of the first 14 points, capped by a Hall fastbreak finish off a Stallworth delivery, upping the Stonehill advantage to 44-31, forcing a Raven timeout.
The lead ballooned to its highest point on Hall's slam which capped an 8-0 burst in just under two minutes.
Stonehill shot 55 percent from the field including a 14-for-27 showing from three point territory, led by Hall's 4-for-5 effort.
Joining Hall in double figures were Smith (17), Kernan (14), A.J. Rudowitz (Monroe Township, N.J.) (13) and Stallworth (10). Smith added eight rebounds, Stallworth handed out eight assists and Rudowitz was 7-for-7 from the charity stripe.
Terrell Ray led Franklin Pierce with 18 points on 9-for-11 shooting, while Marcus Wellman and Rimas Varanauskas each added nine.
Stonehill is now 2-1 in Northeast-10 play and will return to action on Tuesday when they host NE-10 rival Assumption at 7:30 p.m.
