Senior A.J. Rudowitz scored a game-high 22 points to lead Stonehill past Southern Connecticut State tonight.

Stonehill Bounces Back
at Southern Connecticut, 70-55

Rudowitz nets game-high 22 points to lead Skyhawks to tenth win

Boxscore 

NEW HAVEN, Conn. (January 6, 2010) - Stonehill College bounced back from its first Northeast-10 Conference defeat of the season by rolling to a 70-55 victory at Southern Connecticut State University in men's basketball action at James W. Moore Fieldhouse tonight.

Senior forward A.J. Rudowitz (Monroe Township, N.J./Monroe Township) led Stonehill to its tenth win of the season with a game-high 22 points on 10-of-17 shooting from the field, including 1-for-2 from three-point range, to go with seven rebounds and two steals. Classmate Randall Stallworth (Toms River, N.J./Monsignor Donovan) was the only other Skyhawk in double-figures with 11 points, shooting 3-for-5 from the field and converting 5-of-6 free-throws, to go with three assists and two steals.

Sophomore Patrick Lee (Fayetteville, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) grabbed a game and career-high matching ten rebounds, while classmate Ivan Almeida (Santiago, Cape Verde) chipped in with nine points.

Freshman Tobin Carberry (Hamden, Conn./Hamden) led Southern Connecticut with 20 points, shooting 7-for-15 from the field, including 3-for-7 from three-point range, while converting 3-of-4 free-throws, to go with two rebounds and a steal. Grad student Clyde Chapman (Brooklyn, N.Y./Xaverian) added 13 points, shooting 6-for-13 from the field, five rebounds and three assists. Junior Dexton Williamson (Bridgeport, Conn./Bassick) chipped in ten points on 5-of-6 shooting off the bench while posting six rebounds, while senior John Mazzerella (Wallingford, Conn./Lyman Hall) grabbed a team-best seven boards.

Sophomore Patrick Lee matched his career-best with a game-high ten rebounds tonight.

Stonehill finished shooting 48.1-percent (26-for-54) from the field, including a blistering 57.1% (16-28) in the first half while holding Southern Connecticut to just 7-for-27 (25.9%) shooting, to build a 17-point (37-20) halftime lead the Skyhawks rode out over the final 20-minutes. Stonehill out-scored the Owls 16-8 at the free-throw line, committed just seven turnovers on the night while posting a 38-35 rebounding advantage to win the board battle for the 12^th time in 13 games this season. SCSU finished shooting 37.3% (22-59) from the field.

Southern led early (4-2) after a layup by Carberry 4:04 into a slow starting first half for both teams. Stonehill heated up and reeled off a 17-2 run over the next eight minutes to open a 13-point lead (19-6) after a Stallworth layup with 8:19 left in the half. Rudowitz sparked the run with a dunk and totaled nine points in all during that stretch. The Skyhawks pushed the lead to 17 points (26-9) after a layup by freshman Sam Markle (Bethany, Conn./Saint Thomas More) with 4:56 remaining in the half, a margin they would carry into the lockerroom (37-20).

Junior Mike Kernan (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) scored the first basket of the second half to put Stonehill up a game-high 19 (39-20). Southern wouldn't go away quietly, drawing within 11 (57-46) following a Chapman free-throw with 3:55 remaining. The Owls put the Skyhawks on the free-throw line the rest of the way and the visitors did enough at the line, converting 10-of-12 over the final two minutes, to keep their hosts at bay and remain tied atop the NE-10 standings.

Stonehill (10-3, 7-1 NE-10) returns home on Saturday to host Pace University at 3:30 p.m. Southern Connecticut (2-11, 1-7 NE-10) visits 19^th-ranked Bentley University on Saturday at 3:30 p.m.