EASTON, Pa. (December 29, 2024) – Stonehill College men's basketball won its first road game of the season and ended its non-conference slate with a victory at the Kirby Sports Center, defeating Lafayette College, 70-65, Sunday afternoon.
 
LEADERS

• Sophomore Louie Semona (Cincinnati, Ohio) led Stonehill in scoring for the fourth time in the last five games, scoring 15 points off the bench. Semona went 6-9 from the field and 3-3 from deep with six rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
• Junior Chas Stinson (Charlotte, N.C.) scored seven points while leading the Skyhawks with nine rebounds and three blocked shots.
• Lafayette was led by Caleb Williams, who finished with 15 points, while Justin Vander Baan finished with a double-double, corralling a game-high 11 rebounds to go with 14 points for the Leopards.

FIRST HALF

• After the Leopards jumped out to an early 7-0 start, graduate student Amir Nesbitt (Newport News, Va.) came off the bench, hitting back-to-back threes, sparking an 11-1 run for the Skyhawks as Stonehill led 11-8.
• The two teams found themselves tied four more times in the first half in a back-and-forth contest but Semona also gave the Skyhawks a spark off the bench, scoring seven points, capped off by a three-pointer that put Stonehill in front, 26-25.
• Stinson beat the halftime buzzer, making a heavily contested layup that sent Stonehill into the halftime break with a 28-27 lead.
• The Skyhawks made six of their 13 three-point attempts (46.2%) as Nesbitt and freshman Hermann Koffi (Quebec City, Quebec) each knocked down two to lead Stonehill.
• Caleb Williams led Lafayette with eight points at the break as the Leopards won the rebounding battle, 19-14, in the first half.

SECOND HALF

• In the first four minutes of the second half, Lafayette converted on its first four shot attempts, but a quick four points from Morgan and a three-pointer from sophomore Todd Brogna (Southborough, Mass.) kept the score tied, 37-37.
• The Leopards scored six of the next seven points to build their largest lead of the game, 43-38, but Stonehill responded with a 9-5 run with Brogna scoring four more points for the Skyhawks as Stonehill regained the lead, 47-45.
• The lead continued to see-saw, with the Leopards going up 52-49 after an Alex Chaikin three-pointer until eventually, senior Christopher Melis (Chappaqua, N.Y.) made a reverse layup to make it 55-53 in favor of the Skyhawks.
• Lafayette converted on a three-point play after a Justin Vander Baan layup plus the free throw made the score 59-57 for the Leopards but Stonehill retook the lead when Semona banked in a three-pointer with under two minutes to go in the game as the Skyhawks led 62-59.
• Brogna knocked down a pair of free throws to make the score 64-60 with a minute left in regulation, and Stonehill hung on to win its non-conference finale on the road, 70-65.

NOTEWORTHY

• Stonehill is now 1-0 all-time against Lafayette as this was the first meeting between the two programs.
• Stonehill snapped a 28-game road losing streak dating back to the 2022-23 season, with the last road win coming at Saint Francis Brooklyn on Feb. 4, 2023.
• The starting lineup of graduate student Josh Morgan (Brampton, Ontario), Koffi, Stinson, Brogna, and junior Ethan Meuser (Shavertown, Pa.) improves to 7-2 on the year.
• Sunday's game had 10 ties and 11 lead changes, with neither team leading by more than seven at any point in the contest.
• After another double-digit scoring effort, Semona is averaging 16.3ppg over the last six games, with 10+ in five of those contests.
• Stonehill finishes as one of just three Northeast Conference teams with a winning record in non-conference play, joining Central Connecticut State (9-4) and Wagner (8-5).

UP NEXT

• Stonehill men's basketball opens its Northeast Conference schedule in Erie, Pa. as the Skyhawks take on the newest member of the NEC, Mercyhurst, on Friday, Jan. 3 at 7 p.m.

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