Senior Nick Smith scored 14 points off the bench in Stonehill's 70-59 over New Haven on Wednesday.

Skyhawks Soar Past Chargers In NE-10 Opener

Boxscore

West Haven, Conn. - Stonehill raced out to a 28-15 lead midway through the first half and never looked back taking a 70-59 win over host New Haven in the Chargers first game as members of the Northeast-10 Conference on Wednesday evening at Charger Gymnasium.

Senior Nick Smith (Colonia, N.J.) came off the bench to score all 14 of his points in a six minute span that broke the game open early in the first half.

A buzzer-beating dunk from the Chargers' Kelvin Jackson trimmed Stonehill's advantage to nine at 37-28 at the half, but the Skyhawks opened the second half on an 11-3 run capped by a Randall Stallworth (Toms River, N.J.) triple to push the lead to 48-31.

UNH wouldn't go away however, as Cassius Chaney (game-high 20 points) led the Chargers back to within 10 at 51-41 following an offensive rebound and putback. D.J. Sackman's jumper had the lead down to 10 again at 55-45, but both times, Stonehill answered with well-executed plays and the lead eventually ballooned to as many as 18 following eight straight made free throws by Stonehill.

The Skyhawks shot 51 percent from the field including a robust 40 percent from behind the arc. 

Both A.J. Rudowitz (Monroe, N.J.) and Matt Hall (Springfield, Mass.) had team-highs of 17 points, while sophomore Mike Kernan (Medford, N.J.) chipped in with 11 points and seven rebounds. Colin Scanlon (Centreville, Va.) had an excellent all-around effort with two points, six rebounds and five assists in 32 minutes.

Sackman (16) and guard Darryl Greene (11) joined Cheney in double figures for the Chargers who shot just 37 percent and only had five players score.

Stonehill, now 2-0 on the season, returns to action on Friday when they take part in the Lions Classic hosted by Molloy College. They will face Adelphi beginning at 6 p.m.