boxscore

NORTH EASTON, Mass. – Senior forward Ktrice McNeill (Bronx, N.Y.) tied for the game-high with 16 points, and senior forward Devon Sullivan (Jamaica, N.Y.) pulled down a game-best 10 rebounds, but the Southern Connecticut State University men's basketball team fell to Stonehill by a score of 69-65 at Merkert Gymnasium in North Easton, Mass. on Tuesday night. With the loss, the Owls fell to 6-11 overall and 2-10 in the Northeast-10 Conference. The Skyhawks from Stonehill improved to 13-7 overall and 9-4 in conference play.

The first half stayed tight throughout, with neither team building an advantage of larger than six. McNeill paced the Owls offense with eight first half points. Sophomore center John Mazzarella (Wallingford, Conn.) and junior guard Derrick Corbett (New Haven, Conn.) each added seven points, with Mazzarella heading the Southern Connecticut rebounding effort with first half boards. The Owls entered the intermission trailing by a point, 36-35. Stonehill's AJ Rudowitz led all scorers in the opening stanza with 10 points.

The Skyhawks opened the second half on an 8-2 run in first 1:57, building a seven point lead at 44-37. The Owls battled back to eventually tie the score at 53-53 on a McNeill layup with 8:48 remaining, but Stonehill immediately responded an unanswered seven points, all off the hand of guard Matt Hall, to build a 60-53 lead. Southern Connecticut responded with a 10-2 run of its own to take the lead at 63-62 with 2:03 remaining. A Rudowitz free throw tied the score at 63-63 and, after a Southern Connecticut miss, Randall Stallworth connected on two free throws to give the Skyhawks what would prove to be the lead for good. The Skyhawks converted their foul shots in the final minute, and Southern Connecticut would score only two more points the rest of the way as Stonehill took the win, 69-65.

Corbett finished with 10 points and junior guard Justin Gardenhire added 11 to join McNeill in double figures. Mazzarella ended the game with nine, and junior forward Preston Bell (Brooklyn, N.Y.) netted seven. Sophomore guard Trevor Harris (Nanuet, N.Y.) scored six points, and Sullivan, junior guard Terron Jones (Bridgeport, Conn.) and sophomore guard Tocari Davis (Bloomfield, Conn.) chipped in with two points apiece. Harris was the Owls leading assist man with four.

Stonehill's Nick Smith matched McNeill's game-high of 16 points. Rudowitz and Hall scored 13 points each, and Randall Stallworth recorded a double-double with 10 points and a game-high 10 assists.

For the game, Southern Connecticut shot 29-for-62 (46.8%) from the floor, 3-for-8 (37.5%) from three-point range and 4-for-8 (50%) from the free throw line. Stonehill shot 20-for-51 (39.2%) from the field, 5-for-17 (29.4%) from behind the arc and 24-for-36 (66.7%) from the charity stripe.

The Owls return to the court on Thursday, Jan. 24, as they head back to Massachusetts to challenge the Warriors from Merrimack College in a Northeast-10 Conference showdown. The action tips off from North Andover, Mass. at 7 p.m.