THE BASICS 
Lesley University, 53 at Stonehill College, 97

Records: 
Lesley University Lynx (3-9, 0-2, NAC)
Stonehill Skyhawks (6-5, 0-0, NEC) 

Location: Easton, Mass. – Merkert Gymnasiumm

Date: Wednesday, December 11, 2024

THE LEAD— Not only was Wednesday the first-ever meeting between the Stonehill College Skyhawks and the Lesley University men's basketball team, but it also marked the first time the Lynx competed against a Division I opponent. However, the Skyhawks came away with a 97-53 victory. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Early in the first half, after Stonehill jumped out to a 3-0 lead, Malachi Howard (Winter Haven, Fla.) evened the contest at three with a right elbow three. One possession later, after Tyrese Baffour (Auburn, Mass.) forced a steal, he found an open Tavon Rhodes (Dorchester, Mass.) for the squad's first lead (5-3) of the night. 
• However, Stonehill responded and went on a 9-2 run for the 12-5 advantage before a timeout at 15:45. During the offensive run for the Skyhawks, Hermann Kofi led the charge with seven points, which included a three-pointer.
• Coming out of the media timeout, the Skyhawks' offense did not stop. The hosts increased their lead with a 16-0 burst (28-5) before Rhodes broke up the momentum, knocking down two free throws to make it 28-7.
• Even with the two free throws, Stonehill's momentum was not shaken as the Skyhawks pushed their lead to 30 (44-14) behind a 16-9 run before another media timeout at 3:53. During the Skyhawk's recent scoring run, Louie Semona led the offense with eight points highlighted by two threes. 
• For the remainder of the half, Stonehill closed out the first, 13-8, for a 57-22 halftime lead.
• As the second half got underway, Stonehill's offense continued to go strong, but Howard matched each Stonehill basket, which resulted in eight points for the senior forward before a media timeout. Coming out of the break, the Skyhawks had a 63-30 lead and increased it to 40 (73-33) before another break in the action.
• Later in the contest, Austin Hamilton (Stafford, Va.) knocked down back-to-back threes that helped make it 81-40, but despite the late offense, Stonehill closed out the last nine minutes on a 16-13 stretch for the eventual 97-53 win. 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS  

• Howard led Lesley in scoring with 21 points on the night. He has now scored 20 or more points in four games this season.
• Howard is only the third scorer to score 20+ points against Stonehill this year.
• Lesley's other double-digit scorer was Nathaniel Maldonado (Bronx, N.Y.) with a career-high 13 points. 
• For Stonehill, Louie Semona led all scorers with 24 points.

UP NEXT

• Lesley will have some much-deserved time off before resuming its season on Tuesday, January 7, at 7:30 p.m. with a North Atlantic Conference matchup at UMaine-Presque Isle.