Senior Randall Stallworth scored 16 of his team-best 21 points in the second half to lift the 18th-ranked Skyhawks past #14 Bentley tonight to sweep the regular season series.

#18 Stonehill Sweeps #14 Bentley, 76-69

NE-10 Champion Skyhawks roll into postseason following 12^th-straight road win

Boxscore 

WALTHAM, Mass. (February 24, 2010) - Northeast-10 Conference regular season champion Stonehill College, ranked 18^th in this week's National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II poll and first in the NCAA East Regional rankings released today, closed out the regular season with a 76-69 victory over 14^th-ranked Bentley University, ranked second in the East Region, for a victory that will go a long way towards securing the top seed for the upcoming NCAA Division II East Regional at the Dana Athletic Center tonight.

Stonehill (23-4, 20-2 NE-10) will be the top seed in the upcoming NE-10 Tournament and will host a quarterfinal round matchup on Monday, March 1, at 7 p.m. The Skyhawks will face the winner of Saturday's first round clash between 9^th-seeded Adelphi University and 8^th-seeded American International College. Admission to Monday's game will be $7.00 for adults, $4.00 for senior citizens and students, with students with valid college ID admitted for $1.00.

Senior Randall Stallworth (Toms River, N.J./Monsignor Donovan) led Stonehill with 21 points (16 second half) on 6-of-10 shooting from the field, including 3-for-4 from three-point range, while converting 6-of-8 free-throws to go with four assists. Classmate A.J. Rudowitz (Monroe Township, N.J./Monroe Township) added 13 points, eight rebounds and two steals, while junior Daniel Heppert (Richmond, Va./Benedictine) collected 13 points on 4-of-7 shooting from the field, including 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, while converting 3-of-4 free-throws to go with five rebounds and two assists. Junior Mike Kernan (Medford, N.J./Shawnee) grabbed a game-high ten rebounds for the Skyhawks.

Senior A.J. Rudowitz contributed 13 points, eight rebounds and two steals.

Senior Jason Westrol (Brielle, N.J./Manasquan) led Bentley with a game-high 24 points (15 second half), six rebounds and three assists. Junior Brian Tracey (Bow Mar, Colo./Kimball Union) netted 20 points, aided by 11-of-12 shooting from the free-throw line, to go with five rebounds and three assists, while classmate Mike Quinn (Oakdale, Conn./Montville) added 11 points, five rebounds and two assists.

Stonehill finished shooting 48.1-percent (26-for-54) from the field, including 51.9% (14-27) in the first half, while outscoring the hosts 19-13 from the free-throw line by converting 76% (19-25) of its attempts. The Skyhawks finished with a 38-34 rebounding edge, resulting in a 17-5 advantage in second-chance points. Bentley finished shooting 38.7% (24-62) from the field, including 35.9% (14-39) in the second half, hitting 8-of-29 (27.6%) three-pointers for the night.

Stonehill led by a point (40-39) with 12:45 to play before reeling off a 12-2 run over the  next five minutes to push its lead into double-figures (52-41) for the first time after two free-throws by sophomore Ivan Almeida (Praia, Cape Verde) with 7:38 to play. Heppert and Almeida sparked the run with a three-pointer each.

Westrol answered with a three with 7:19 to play, drawing Bentley within eight (52-44), but a Rudowitz layup and two free-throws by Heppert pushed the Stonehill lead to 12 (56-44) with 6:04 remaining. The Falcons closed again, drawing within five (58-53) when Tracey was fouled attempting a three-pointer and then drained all three free-throws with 3:31 left. The Skyhawks responded by canning 9-of-10 free-throws over the next two minutes, getting a three-pointer from Stallworth (who had seven points in all during that stretch), to run their lead back to 12 (68-56) with 1:14 to play.

Stonehill sealed the win with a layup by freshman Sam Markle (Bethany, Conn./Saint Thomas More) that pushed its lead to a game-high 13 (73-60) with 41-seconds to go. Bentley, winners of five-straight NE-10 regular season championships before being unseated by Stonehill this winter, wouldn't go down quietly, raining in a trio of three-pointers in an eight-second span to cut its deficit to six (75-69) with 23-seconds to go. However, it would prove to be too little too late as the Skyhawks got a Stallworth free-throw and Westrol missed a fourth three-point attempt to finally clinch things.

There was little to separate the teams in a first half that featured three ties and three lead changes and neither team leading by more than five points until Stonehill scored four-straight to open a seven-point lead (31-24) after an Almeida jumper with 1:22 left before halftime. Bentley led by three (8-5) very early after a pair of free-throws by Tracey 3:04 into the game.

Bentley (22-5, 17-5 NE-10) is the No. 2-seed for the NE-10 Tournament and will also host a quarterfinal round game on Monday at 7 p.m. The Falcons await the winner of Saturday's first round battle between seventh-seeded University of Massachusetts Lowell and tenth-seeded Assumption College.