EASTON, Mass. (November 25, 2024) – Junior Chas Stinson (Charlotte, N.C.) sunk a pair of free throws with 0.8 seconds on the clock to secure a 67-65 win for the Stonehill College men's basketball team over East Texas A&M Monday night at Merkert Gymnasium.
 
LEADERS

• Graduate student Josh Morgan (Brampton, Ontario) led all scorers with 20 points, shooting 6-13 from the field, 4-8 from deep, and 4-4 from the free throw line.
• Sophomore Todd Brogna (Southborough, Mass.) went 5-10 from the field, 1-2 from three, and 5-5 at the charity stripe, scoring 15 points while tying three other Skyhawks with a team-high four rebounds.
• Graduate student Amir Nesbitt (Newport News, Va) scored 11 points off the bench, sinking three of his four three-point attempts while tallying a game-high five assists.
• Stinson also reached double figures, scoring 10 points while grabbing three rebounds and notching two steals and one block.
• East Texas A&M was led by Scooter Williams Jr., who had 14 points despite going 0-9 from three-point range. Josh Taylor recorded a game-high six rebounds and scored 10 points for the Lions.

FIRST HALF

• The Skyhawks won the tip and Morgan cashed in instantly, knocking down a three-pointer on the game's opening possession.
• An 8-2 run from the Lions gave East Texas A&M the lead but a corner three from junior Ethan Meuser (Shavertown, Pa.) put the Skyhawks back in front, 13-12.
• Stonehill didn't hit another field goal for the next four minutes but Nesbitt knocked down his first three-pointer of the contest to bring Stonehill back within one, 19-18, with 7:55 remaining in the half.
• Nesbitt sunk another three followed by a three-pointer from Brogna on the next possession as the Skyhawks went back in front, 24-23, late in the first half.
• The Lions made four of their next six shots, spurring a 9-2 run as East Texas A&M took its largest lead of the first half, 32-26.
• After blocking a shot on the defensive end, Stinson hoisted up a last-second shot from beyond the arc, netting the buzzer-beater off the glass to send the teams into the locker room with the Lions leading by two points, 32-30.
• There were four ties and five lead changes in a tightly battled first half as Stonehill shot over 50% (6-11) from past the three-point line while the Lions forced 12 first-half turnovers.

SECOND HALF

• Both teams shot the ball well to start the second half, with ETAMU going 6-8 from the field and 2-3 from deep while Stonehill started 5-10 overall, 3-5 from long range.
• Nesbitt made his third three-pointer of the game to cut a six-point Lion lead in half, bringing Stonehill within three, 46-43, with 13:36 left to play.
• A Camerin James three-pointer gave East Texas A&M its largest lead of the game, 51-43, with exactly 12 minutes remaining but freshman Hermann Koffi (Quebec City, Quebec) slashed to the basket for an easy layup to end the Lions' run.
• Koffi's bucket sparked a 10-2 run for the Skyhawks as Stonehill tied it for the first time in the second half, 53-53, thanks to seven straight misses from ETAMU.
• Stonehill took a 55-54 lead, its first of the half, when Brogna made a reverse layup but Khaliq Abdul Mateen ended the drought for the Lions, cashing in on a three-pointer to put East Texas A&M back up by two, 57-55.
• With 1:33 remaining in the game, Morgan knocked down his fourth three-pointer, scoring his 1,000th career point while bringing Stonehill back within one point of the Lions, 61-60.
• After a layup by Williams Jr., Koffi drilled a heavily contested three-pointer to beat the shot clock buzzer as Stonehill tied the score, 63-63, with 36 seconds remaining.
• Another layup from Williams Jr. put the Lions up two but Brogna got fouled going to the basket and made both free throws to tie the score with three seconds left, 65-65.
• Stinson forced a turnover on the East Texas A&M inbound pass and then got fouled slashing to the basket when it was Stonehill's turn to inbound the ball, setting up Stinson for two shots at the line with 0.8 seconds remaining in the game.
• Stinson would sink both free throws to secure the 67-65 win for the Skyhawks as he's now decided back-to-back games for Stonehill at the line.

NOTEWORTHY

• Stonehill is now 1-1 all-time against East Texas A&M, with the Lions coming out on top in the first-ever meeting between the two non-conference opponents last season. Stonehill also improves to 2-0 against the Southland Conference this season as the Skyhawks defeated New Orleans, 80-54, on Nov. 15.
• The Skyhawks have their first back-to-back wins since February of 2023 when Stonehill defeated Saint Francis Brooklyn and LIU in consecutive games.
• With his 19th point tonight, Morgan surpassed 1,000 career points, accumulating 878 in his four seasons at Incarnate Word while totaling 123 in his first eight games as a Skyhawk.
• Stonehill improves to 4-1 this season when Morgan leads the Skyhawks in the scoring column. The grad student from Ontario currently ranks third in the NEC, averaging 15.4 points per game. His 23-made threes lead the conference this season.
• Stonehill matched its best shooting night from long range (11-22, 50%) and had its best night at the free throw line (12-13, 92.3%) of the season.
• The Skyhawks combined for 15 assists tonight, the fourth time this season they've hit 15+. Stonehill is 3-1 in such games, the one loss being a 75-74 defeat to Lindenwood.
• Stonehill led for just 42 seconds in the second half with the Lions leading for 18:11.

UP NEXT

• The Skyhawks travel to Milwaukee, Wisc. for a first-ever meeting with No. 10 Marquette at the Fiserv Forum on Wednesday at 9 p.m. EST. This is the first meeting for the Skyhawks against a ranked opponent since taking on the No. 17 Kentucky Wildcats last season.

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