SPRINGFIELD, Mass. Senior Marcus Porter (New Castle, Del.) led all scorers with 27 points and added 10 rebounds for his second straight double-double as American International College defeated Stonehill by a 79-70 score in Northeast-10 men's basketball action this evening from the Butova Gymnasium.
The Yellow Jackets bounce back after a tough loss Saturday and improve to 11-3 on the year and 6-2 in the NE10 while the Skyhawks fall to 9-6 overall and an even 5-5 in league action.
With AIC leading by six after a layup from Porter with 13:42 to play in the half the Skyhawks scored six straight after a pair of buckets from the charity stripe from junior Daniel Brix (Monroe Township, N.J.) to tie the contest at 12-12 with 12:29 on the clock.
From there the teams had five ties and nine lead changes before Porter drilled a three with 4:44 remaining to give the Jackets a 34-31 advantage.
Just before the half Porter again gave the Jackets a three point lead as he tried to initiate contact except no foul was called, however, his off-balance bid from the baseline dropped just before the buzzer and AIC took a 38-35 lead into the locker room.
Porter finished the half with 13 points and was 3-for-3 from behind the arc.
The Yellow Jackets came out of the half firing on all cylinders and extended the lead to double-digits after senior Bobby Harris (Berlin, N.J.) connected from behind the arc with 13:34 on the clock for the 52-42 edge.
Stonehill used a five point spurt to cut the lead in half at 56-51 with 9:06 remaining, however, the Jackets came right back and reclaimed a ten point edge after Porter finished off a traditional three point play with 7:29 on the clock and AIC held the 61-51 advantage.
AIC continued their momentum and grabbed their largest lead of the game at 17 after a bucket by junior Cameron Dobbs (Albany, N.Y.) with 2:50 remaining gave the Jackets a 70-53 edge.
Stonehill continued to push and cut the deficit to 9 after four straight points by sophomore Ryan Logan (Fredericktown, Ohio) and four straight from the charity stripe made the score 70-61 with 1:35 to play.
However, that was as close as the Skyhawks would get as the teams traded a few buckets down the stretch and the Jackets hit their free throws to ice the game.
The Yellow Jackets shot 41.5 percent from the field on 27-of-65 shooting while Stonehill managed just 32.4 percent on 23-of-71 shooting, but did hold the 43-38 advantage in rebounds.
Harris added 18 points and dished out four dimes while Dobbs contributed 16 to help pace the offense.
Logan led the way for the Skyhawks with 25 points and 10 boards and Cumpstone added 10 to round out the double-digit scorers for the visitors.
The Yellow Jackets return to action Saturday when they travel to Bentley for a 3:30 p.m. affair.
