LORETTO, Pa. (January 5, 2025) – Freshman Hermann Koffi (Quebec City, Quebec) scored a career-high 17 points, and sophomore Todd Brogna (Southborough, Mass.) recorded his second career double-double to fuel a 64-60 win over Saint Francis for the Stonehill College men's basketball team at DeGol Arena Sunday afternoon.
 
LEADERS

• Koffi scored a team-high 17 points on a 6-11 shooting performance, along with a career-high four three-pointers made on eight attempts to go with his five rebounds and one assist in 35 minutes.
• Graduate student Amir Nesbitt (Newport News, Va.) drilled the game-winning three-pointer with 24 seconds left as he scored 13 points off the bench with three makes from deep and four rebounds in the win.
• Brogna's second career double-double included 11 points, 13 rebounds, two steals, and two assists in 34 minutes.
• Sophomore Louie Semona (Cincinnati, Ohio) made his first start of the season, playing a game-high 37 minutes, scoring 12 points and leading the Skyhawks with four assists.
• Juniors Ethan Meuser (Shavertown, Pa.) and Chas Stinson (Charlotte, N.C.) each recorded two blocks, while Meuser tied Brogna for a team-best two steals
• The Red Flash were led by Bobby Rosenberger III and Riley Parker, who each scored 19 points in the loss.

FIRST HALF

• Both teams were scoreless for the first two minutes of the game before Rosenberger sank free throws to open the scoring for the Red Flash.
• Senior Neal Marquardt (Rockville Center, N.Y.) made one of two free throws to start the scoring for Stonehill.
• The Red Flash jumped out to an 8-1 lead as Stonehill's first field goal didn't come until a Semona reverse layup with 14 minutes left in the first half, making the score 8-3.
• The Skyhawks continued to struggle from the floor, starting the game 1-14 including 0-8 from long range as the Red Flash lead increased to 12 points, 15-3, 10 minutes into the half.
• Semona drilled a three-pointer to end Saint Francis's run, sparking an 8-2 run for the Skyhawks as they trimmed their deficit in half, 17-11, with under eight minutes left to play in the half.
• Semona knocked down another three to make it a five-point game but a Riley Parker pull-up three in transition followed by a layup for Valentino Pinedo pushed the Red Flash lead back up to 10 points, 26-16.
• Saint Francis finished strong in the first half, heading into the break with a 33-20 lead after holding Stonehill to a 28.6% (8-28) shooting clip.

SECOND HALF

• Stonehill began the second half on a 10-1 run capped off by a three-pointer from Meuser that made the score 34-30, forcing a Saint Francis timeout.
• The Skyhawks extended their run to 15-1 out of the timeout as Nesbitt hit a transition three followed by another Semona layup as Stonehill took its first lead of the game, 35-34.
• The two teams traded baskets over the next eight minutes as the score remained tied, 43-43, going into the under-eight media timeout.
• The lead continued to flip but Koffi kept firing from three, hitting his fourth shot from deep of the game to make it 49-47 with just over four minutes to play in the game.
• Brogna drilled his first three of the game followed by a Semona layup to extend the Stonehill lead to 54-50 late in the second half.
• Stinson made a free throw to push the Skyhawks lead to five, 55-50, but Saint Francis answered with a 7-2 run until a Stinson layup gave the Skyhawks a 59-57 lead with just over a minute remaining in the game.
• Rosenberger sunk a three-pointer with 44 seconds to go as the Red Flash retook the lead, 60-59.
• Nesbitt came up clutch for the Skyhawks, nailing a corner three with 24 seconds left to play as Stonehill regained the lead, 62-60.
• The Skyhawks' defense forced a turnover on the next possession, followed by Brogna sinking two free throws to ice the game, 64-60, as Stonehill completed the 14-point comeback.

NOTEWORTHY

• Stonehill is now 3-2 against Saint Francis with the Skyhawks being 1-2 at DeGol Arena and 2-0 in Merkert Gymnasium.
• This was the Skyhawks' first road win in NEC play since Feb. 4, 2023, at Saint Francis Brooklyn after going 0-9 last season.
• This was Semona's first start of the season and after another double-digit scoring effort, Semona is averaging 15.9ppg over the last eight games, with 10+ in seven of those contests.
• Koffi scored a career-high 17 points, knocked down a career-high four three-pointers, and was one minute shy of matching his career-high of 37 minutes played.
• Brogna recorded his second career double-double, with his first coming earlier this season in a win at Merkert Gym against Bryant when he recorded 10 points and 15 rebounds.
• Senior Nathan McGill (Dillsburg, Pa.) made his season debut after missing the opening 16 games due to injury, playing 14 minutes off the bench. McGill grabbed two rebounds and had one assist for the Skyhawks.
• Stonehill is now 8-1 when outrebounding its opponents this season, winning the rebounding battle over Saint Francis, 40-36.
• Stonehill's record when:
  • 4-1 on Sundays.
  • 6-1 when four players score in double figures.
  • 7-1 when shooting a better field goal percentage than their opponent.
  • 6-1 when making more free throws than their opponent.
  • 4-0 when recording 40+ rebounds.
  • 4-0 when recording 15+ offensive rebounds.

UP NEXT

• Stonehill men's basketball returns home for its first NEC game at Merkert Gym when LIU makes the trip to Merkert Gymnasium on Friday, January 10 at 7 p.m.

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