|
|
A.J. Rudowitz and his teammates will need to contain the three-point shooting of Pace's Ryan Williams and the interior presence of Desmond Quincy-Jones in order to secure their 14th win of the season on Saturday. |
North Easton, Mass. - With wins in eight of their last nine games, a surging Stonehill team heads to Pace on Saturday in hopes of keeping a stranglehold on a possible bye in the first round of the upcoming Northeast-10 postseason tournament.
At 9-4 in the Conference standings, the Skyhawks are tied with Assumption for third place, although, by virtue of their 71-57 win over the Greyhounds on December 4, the Skyhawks hold a half game lead in a tiebreaker scenario. The two teams meet again on February 16 in Worcester.
The Setters, meanwhile, enter as a high-scoring team that has lost three of its last four contests by yielding nearly 74 points per game over that span. Ranked 13th of 15 teams in the Conference in points allowed, Pace has given up 90+ points on five separate occasions this season.
Offensively, the Setters feature sharp-shooting senior Ryan Williams, the Northeast-10's second-leading scorer at 19.8 points per game. Williams, who hails from Centreville, Va., the same hometown as Stonehill junior Colin Scanlon, has made a league-high 54 three-pointers. He has 12 20+ point games this season, including three straight 25 point games.
Desmond Quincy-Jones is one of only two players in the Northeast-10 averaging a double-double, as he collects 14 points and 10.1 rebounds a game. In their last game, a 71-66 loss at the hands of the nation's No. 1 team, Bentley, he had 12 points and a season-high 15 rebounds.
Gibraltar White is the third Setter to average double figures, netting 14 points a game. Earlier this season he became the 31st player in their school's history to reach 1,000 points.
Right behind Williams in three-pointers made, sit two Skyhawks, junior Nick Smith (Colonia, N.J.) and Vince Rosario (Perth Amboy, N.J.), who have made 53 and 50 triples, respectively. Of the three, Rosario has the highest percentage at 46 percent, good for fourth in the Northeast-10.
Smith, who ranks eighth in the Conference in scoring at 15.9 points per game, has at least one three-pointer in 19 of 20 games this season. Rosario, meanwhile, has made 16 three pointers in his last five games, and is averaging 10.8 points per game.
Junior Matt Hall (Springfield, Mass.) is right behind Smith in scoring at 15.3 points on 50 percent shooting from the field.
Sophomore A.J. Rudowitz (Monroe Township, N.J.) Rudowitz has come on strong as of late, averaging 13.6 points, 6.4 rebounds while shooting 55 percent from the floor in his last five contests. In 48 career games, he has seven double-doubles, including three this season.
Following Saturday's meeting with the Setters, Stonehill will have a week off before traveling to LeMoyne next Saturday.
