12th-Seeded Men's Basketball Falls in Northeast-10 Championship Tournament at Fifth-Seeded Stonehill 69-63
Easton, Mass, - The 12th-seeded American International College
men's basketball team dropped a 69-63 decision at fifth-seeded
Stonehill Saturday in the first round of the Northeast-10
Championship Tournament. The Skyhawks improved to 17-14 on the
season, while the Yellow Jackets close the 2007-08 campaign with a
record of 10-18. Sophomore forward Aikeem Vanderhorst (Bay
Shore, N.Y.) scored a game-high 20 points with seven
boards for AIC.
The Yellow Jackets were down three after sophomore guard Randall Stallworth's (Toms River, N.J.) jumper with 22 seconds left on the clock and had a chance to tie, but senior guard Jeff Dosado's (Montreal, P.Q.) 3-pointer missed its mark, forcing the Yellow Jackets to foul with nine seconds left in the game.
Stonehill held a one-point lead, 13-12, five minutes into the first half before exploding for a 17-0 run over the next five minutes to take a 30-12 lead with 9:39 remaining in the opening stanza. The Yellow Jackets were able to chip away at lead over final nine and a half minute and trailed 44-33 at halftime.
AIC caught fire coming out of the locker room and opened the second half with a 9-2 run to close within four points, 46-42, in the first three minutes of the period. The Skyhawks answered with five points of their own before the Yellow Jackets went on a 10-2 burst to pull back within a point, 53-52, at the 10:31 mark of the second frame.
Stonehill led 60-56 just a couple minutes later before junior forward Lucius Millinder (Belleville, N.J.) converted a three point play by grabbing a rebound under the basket and put it back in as he was fouled and Vanderhorst hit a jumper to give AIC its first lead since the opening minutes of the contest, 61-60, with 4:50 remaining in the game. The two teams then traded baskets before the Skyhawks went on a 7-0 run to close the game and secure the win.
Vanderhorst scored 16 of his 20 points in the second half on 8 of 10 shooting from the field. Junior guard Vernon Dupree (Wilmington, Del.) and freshman guard Sesoo Ikpah (Williamstown, N.J.) added 14 points each for the Yellow Jackets.
Junior guard Matt Hall (Springfield, Mass.) and sophomore forward A.J. Rudowicz (Monroe Township, N.J.) scored 16 points each for Stonehill and junior forward Nick Smith (Colonia, N.J.) added 13 points.
The game was decided at the free throw line, where Stonehill was
15 of 17 (88.2%) for the game and AIC was 6 of 7 (85.7%), which
matched the Skyhawks showing in the second half alone.