EASTON, Mass. (Nov. 23, 2025) – Before heading into the Thanksgiving Break, the Stonehill men's basketball team will host UMass Lowell on Wednesday, November 26 inside Merkert Gymnasium at noon. 

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MEDIA INFORMATION: Charlie Bergeron and Brian Buckley will have the call on NEC FrontRow.

SERIES HISTORY vs. UMASS LOWELL
These two teams are no strangers to each other, having faced each other as members of the NE-10. The Riverhawks have the edge in the all-time series, 23-11 and have won the last five meetings. Last year, the Riverhawks defeated the Skyhawks, 78-67, at the Tsongas Arena in Lowell, Massachusetts.

The last time Stonehill was victorious against UMass Lowell was March 3, 2012 when the Skyhawks raised the NE-10 championship trophy with a 73-61 win on the Merkert Gymnasium floor. Stonehill broke a 23-year title drought to win its fourth NE-10 championship, Andre Tongo '12 was named Tournament MVP after netting 23 points. Current Head Coach Chris Kraus was in his second to last season as an assistant, before taking over the helm in 2013-2014. The Skyhawks won the first ever meeting on December 22, 1998, 94-79. 

SCOUTING THE RIVERHAWKS
The Riverhawks are 1-6 on the season with their lone win coming in a 107-55 victory over Division III's Rivier University on November 3. In the Riverhawks first game against at Division I opponent they traveled to Storrs, Connecticut to face the nationally-ranked UConn Huskies. The Huskies came away with the convincing 110-47 victory. UMass Lowell's Jared Frey and Xavier Spencer led the offense with 12 and 11 points, respectively. All five starters for the Huskies registered double figures, while Malachi Smith and Eric Reibe also reached double digits off the bench. UMass Lowell also dropped a six-point decision to NEC's University of New Haven, 73-67, and his coming off a two-point loss to Saint Peter's on Saturday. JJ Massaquoi came off the bench lead four in double figures with 18 points, while Darrel Yepdo followed up with 14 and Austin Green added 13. Xavier Spencer rounded out the quartet with 11 points.

LAST TIME OUT FOR THE SKYHAWKS
Stonehill is coming off their second win in program history over Lafayette on Friday, November 21. Junior Davante Hackett was lights out for the Skyhawks off the bench setting a new individual career single-game best netting 23 points, including 12 from beyond the arc. Fellow junior, center Ridvan Tutic also recorded a single-game high with 16 points, while senior Chas Stinson came one rebound shy of a double-double tallying 10 points and nine boards. Graduate student Raymond Espinal-Guzman added 10 points, while senior Rex Sunderland dished out five assists.
 

FROM DOWNTOWN
A two-time NEC Prime Performer, sophomore Hermann Koffi leads the NEC in total three-point field goals with 24 on the season and ranked fifth amongst national leaders in total treys. Against DePaul, Koffi came one three-point jumper shy of tying the WinTrust Arena record, registering seven.

Made 3-Point Field Goals at WinTrust Arena
8          David Joplin (Marquette)                                1/28/23
            Kaiden Rice (Georgetown)                             2/9/22
            Max Strus (DePaul) vs. Georgetown               3/6/19
            Max Strus (DePaul) vs. UIC                             12/14/18
            David Coit (NIU)                                              11/25/23
7          Hermann Koffi (Stonehill)                               11/7/25
            LJ Figureroa (St. John's)                                  1/25/20
            Scottie Lindsey (Northwestern)                      12/16/17
            Quincy Olivari (Xavier)                                    2/3/24
 
TRIPLE THREAT
Graduate student Raymond Espinal-Guzman nearly became the second player in Division I to record a triple double. Against DePaul, the Rhode Island native registered 10 rebounds, while netting nine points and dishing out seven assists. 

DEFENSIVE MINDED
Stonehill is currently second as a team in rebounding averaging (39.1), while leading the NEC in total rebounds (274). Graduate student Raymond Espinal-Guzman is third amongst individual leaders averaging 8.1 rebounds per game and currently has one double-double on the season (at Fairfield, 11/14/25 – 19 points, 12 rebounds). Senior guard Chas Stinson is tied for third in blocks amongst NEC leaders with nine of the season, while Espinal-Guzman is also in the top six with eight blocks.

PICKED THIRD IN NEC PRE-SEASON POLL
The Stonehill men's basketball team was picked third in the 2025-2026 Men's Basketball Pre-Season Coaches Poll released Monday, October 27. The Skyhawks finished behind LIU, who was a unanimous selection for first place, and Central Connecticut State, who was picked second.

2025-2026 NEC Pre-Season Coaches Poll
1. LIU
2. Central Connecticut State
3. STONEHILL
4. Mercyhurst
5. FDU
6. Chicago State
7. Saint Francis
8. Wagner
9. Le Moyne
10. New Haven

KOFFI EARNS ALL-NEC PRE-SEASON HONORS
Sophomore Hermann Koffi was selected to the NEC Pre-Season All-Conference team. Koffi returns to for his sophomore season after earning All-NEC Second Team honors and All-Rookie Team recognition last year. Appearing in all 32 games while starting 27 in 2024-2025, Koffi averaged 9.4 points per game and shot 74.2% from the free throw line.

2025-2026 NEC PRE-SEASON ALL-NEC TEAM
Bernie Blunt, Gr. | G | Mercyhurst
Malachi Davis, Sr. | C | LIU
Jamal Fuller, Gr. | G/F | LIU
Hermann Koffi, So. | G | Stonehill
Darin Smith Jr., So. | F | Central Connecticut State

PRIME PERFORMERS
Sophomore Hermann Koffi received the NEC Prime Performer accolades on Nov. 10 after dropping a career single-game best 27 points on DePaul. He secured his second Prime Performer accolades a week later on Nov. 17.

NEC Honors
Hermann Koffi (Nov. 10)         Prime Performer
Hermann Koffi (Nov. 17)          Prime Performer

NEW FACES, NEW PLACES
The Skyhawks welcome nine newcomers to the Stonehill campus – including eight transfers: Will Batchelder (Sr., Holy Cross), Raymond Espinal-Guzman (Gr., Sacred Heart), Davante Hackett (Jr., Brock University), Anthony Holden (Gr., Maryville), Cory Lovell (Jr. Hercum College), Trenton Ruth (So., Coffeyville C.C.), Rex Sunderland (Sr., New Hampshire) and Ridvan Tutic (Jr., Maine).

Additionally, the Skyhawks welcomed two new coaches to the coaching staff: assistant coaches Tom Bonacum and Josh Einhorn. Bonacum joins the Skyhawks after spending the past five seasons with former Iona and FDU Head Coach Tobin Anderson. Bonacum helped guide the Gaels to back-to-back MAAC Championship game appearances. Einhorn joins Stonehill after a year under legendary Brandeis Head Coach Jean Bain helping to lead the Judges reach 28th in Division III rankings.

HONORING A LEGEND
This season the Stonehill men's basketball team will be wearing patches on their shooting shirts in memory of Mike Allocco '73, who passed away in early September. Allocco was a legend on the basketball court during his playing days during his play days as the program's first All-American and program's all-time leading scorer with 2,399 points. A three-time All-American, Allocco went on to be drafted by the Capital Bullets, now the Washington Wizards, and was inducted into the Stonehill College Hall of Fame in 1989. 
 

STINSON RETURNS
Senior Chas Stinson returns for his senior season. The only player to appear and start in all 32 games last season, Stinson led the Skyhawks picking the pocket of opponents, a season-best 54 times and was fourth amongst NEC leaders in steals. Stinson finished fourth on the team with 264 points and second in rebounds with 159.

MEUSER MINUTES
Appearing and starting in 31 games, senior Ethan Meuser led the Skyhawks with 27 blocks in 2024-2025 and was fifth amongst NEC leaders. In addition, Meuser was second amongst team leaders in three-point percentage, knocking down 46-116 (.397). 

HERRION'S RETURN
Bill Herrion returns for his second season on Coach Kraus' staff. Herrion most recently coached at the University of New Hampshire up until 2023 after 18 years at the helm of the Wildcats program. Herrion began an 18-year run as the head coach of New Hampshire in 2005 after a short stint as the associate head coach at the University of Arkansas. In his time at UNH, he accumulated a 227-303 (.428) record, the winningest coach in Wildcat history. His 394 wins between his head coaching stints at UNH and at Drexel stands as the all-time mark in America East history.

FOREVER A SKYHAWK!
Stonehill's largest win over a Division I opponent in program history on November 15, 2024 against New Orleans, 80-54, marked the 500th game Stonehill head coach Chris Kraus '06 had a role with the program including his time as a student-athlete (114) from 2002-06, assistant coach (90) between 2010-13, and head coach (323) since 2013. Kraus has now had a role with his alma mater in over a quarter of the men's basketball games in the program's 77-year history.

NORTH OF THE BORDER
Head Coach Chris Kraus (Toronto, Ontario) went north of the border this season, recruiting two newcomers from his home country of Canada. Junior Davante Hackett (Brampton, Ontario) and sophomore Hermann Koffi (Quebec City, Quebec) grew up in Canada, just like their head coach. Coach Kraus is one of two Canadian-born coaches at the Division I level as Pacific's newest head coach, Dave Smart, joins Kraus in the states. Kraus is also the second-winningest Canadian-born head coach in NCAA history as his 165 wins trail only the late Pete Newell who tallied a record of 234-123 between coaching stints at the University of San Francisco, Michigan State, and California from 1946-1960. Newell, a native of Vancouver, was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 1979 and the College Basketball Hall of Fame in 2006 before passing away in 2008.

INTERNATIONAL
In addition to a pair of players hailing from Canada, the 2025-2026 squad consists of five players who call home outside of the United States. Canada: Davante Hackett (Jr., Brampton, Ontario), Hermann Koffi (So., Quebec City, Quebec); Serbia: Ridvan Tutic (Jr. Novi Pazar); Finland: Eino Montin (Jr., Oulu); New Zealand: Cory Lovell (Jr., Wellington).

THE CHRIS KRAUS '06 FILE
Stonehill Head Men's Basketball Coach Chris Kraus enters his 13^th season at the helm of the Skyhawk men's basketball team and has had role in over a quarter of men's basketball games in the program's 77-year history. Kraus became the 14^th head coach of the Skyhawks in July of 2013 after spending three seasons as an assistant coach under David McLaughlin. As an assistant coach he helped guide the Skyhawks to 2011-12 NE-10 Championship and NCAA Division II East Regional title. A 2006 alumni of Stonehill, Kraus is one of 51 head coaches coaching their alma mater in NCAA Division I in 2025-2026. The longest tenured head coach in program history, Kraus is also the first Canadian-born head coach to lead the Skyhawks and one of two Canadian head coaches in NCAA Division I (Pacific's Dave Smart is the other). On November 15, 2024 against New Orleans, Kraus participated in his 500th game associated with the College (student-athlete, assistant coach and head coach), then on November 27, 2024 against Marquette it marked his 300th game as head coach. As the program's all-time program leader in games coached surpassing Raymond Pepin (312) and David McLaughlin (288), Kraus is also on of four head coaches in program history to reach the 100-win mark. 

Head Coach             Years             Wins
David McLaughlin     2003-13         189
Raymond Pepin        1984-95          171
Chris Kraus             2013-present  165
Tom J. Folliard 1       978-1984         101