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Junior Matt Hall is coming off of his first career double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds in a loss at Franklin Pierce. |
North Easton, Mass. - After suffering their first loss since the early part of December, Stonehill looks to get back in the win column when Southern Connecticut makes its only visit of the season to Merkert Gymnasium on Tuesday evening.
Prior to Saturday's 63-62 setback at Franklin Pierce, the Skyhawks had won a season-best seven straight games to move into the thick of the Northeast-10 Conference race. They now sit at 12-7 overall and 8-4 in the Conference, tied with Assumption for third place.
Through 19 contests, Junior Nick Smith (Colonia, N.J.) leads Stonehill in scoring at 15.9 points per game, while classmate Matt Hall (Springfield, Mass.) isn't too far behind at 15.4 a night. Hall, coming off of his first career double-double (14 points, 10 rebounds), has five 20+ point performances this season, including a career-high 27 earlier this year.
Low-post magician A.J. Rudowitz (Monroe Township, N.J.) has made the second most trips to the free throw line (85) of any player in the Northeast-10 with the exception of St. Rose's Steve Dagostino (110). Rudowitz has connected on 84 percent of his trips, including a 7-for-7 performance in the loss to Franklin Pierce on Saturday.
Smith, meanwhile, is climbing the charts in Stonehill's storied record book. Entering tonight's contest, Smith ranks 25th in points scored (1,068) and assuming he continues to score his 15.9 average in the final 10 regular season games, he could move into 18th place ahead of Jason Jacobsen with 1,228 points.
Smith already ranks third all-time on the school's three-pointers made list with 165. Entering tonight's game, he is 143 behind Jon Cronin's school-record of 308. Smith's .419 percentage is also second to only Cronin's .437 percent of any Stonehill student-athlete to make more than 100 three-pointers.
The Owls enter tonight's matchup looking to rebound from a 96-62 drubbing at the hands of Assumption on Saturday. The Greyhounds led by as much as 36 late in the second half before handing Southern Connecticut their worst loss of the season.
They are led by senior Ktrice McNeill, who despite having only started eight contests is scoring a team-best 13.7 points per game on 63 percent shooting. Joining McNeill in double figures are junior Justin Gardenhire (10.7) and sophomore Trevor Harris (10.0). In addition to his scoring, Harris ranks sixth in the Northeast-10 in assists (4.5) and has a team-best 26 steals. Classmate John Mazella, meanwhile, ranks second in the NE-10 in block shots, turning away 1.8 attempts a game.
