Stonehill Holds Off Men's Basketball, 76-68
Box Score
EASTON, Mass. (Nov. 13, 2010) – The C.W. Post men's basketball team whittled a double-digit Stonehill lead to just four points with 1:51 left in the game, but could not complete the comeback as the Pioneers fell to the defending NE-10 champion Skyhawks, 76-68, on Saturday afternoon.
C.W. Post's record evens to 1-1, while Stonehill ups its record to 2-0.
The hosts used an early 12-2 run in the first five minutes of the game to pull away from the Pioneers, and were able to maintain for the first half, as the Pioneers trailed by 10 at the midway break.
Trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half, the Pioneers worked to close the gap and with 2:53 to play, closed the gap to six points after senior forward Aaron Hall (Syracuse, N.Y.) nailed a three-pointer. Stonehill's Ivan Almeida countered with a jumper to push the lead back to eight, but junior Stefan Bonneau (Middletown, N.Y.) hit two free throws to pull back to a six point deficit.
Defensive pressure forced a Stonehill turnover and Bonneau stole the ball and fed a pass to Vaughn Allen (Mount Vernon, N.Y.), who was fouled on his shot attempt. Allen made both free throws to pull to within four points, but on Stonehill's ensuing possession, Sam Markle hit two free throws to push the lead back to six. A missed three-pointer by C.W. Post gave Stonehill the ball again and the Skyhawks got a layup from Patrick Lee and two free throws by Daniel Heppert on their next two trips down the court to quickly give the hosts a double-digit advantage. The Pioneers could not complete the upset as they fell shy by eight points.
Hall led the Pioneers with 21 points, joined in double figures by Allen with 10. Hall shot 8-for-21 from the floor and was 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. Allen added nine rebounds to his 10 point effort, which came on 3-of-5 from the field and 4-of-9 from the charity stripe. C.W. Post shot .329 from the floor (23-of-70) and .286 from beyond the arc (6-of-21), while making 16-of-23 free throw attempts. Stonehill held a sizeable 46-28 advantage in the paint, and outrebounded the Pioneers 51-35.
Almeida's 18-point night led four Stonehill players in double figures, as Lee chipped in with 17, Brian Hamor added 12 points, and Heppert posted 11. Both Almeida and Lee had double-doubles, with 15 and 10 boards, respectively. Mike Kernan was also a force up front for the Skyhawks, grabbing 12 rebounds and scoring nine points.
C.W. Post is off until Nov. 28, as they travel to Post University for a 3:30 p.m. contest in Waterbury, Conn.