SPRINGFIELD, Mass. Senior Marcus Porter (New Castle, Del.) scored a game-high 25 points to highlight four double-digit scorers as American International College defeats Stonehill College, 68-63, in the Northeast-10 Championship Quarterfinals this afternoon from the Butova Gymnasium.
With the win AIC improves to 21-6 overall and 15-5 in conference play and will travel to No. 1 So. New Hampshire for a 7 p.m. affair on Wednesday night in the Northeast-10 Championship semifinals.
This marks a rematch of one of the most exciting games of the year a 107-104 double-overtime defeat at the hands of the Penman on January 10th here in Springfield.
"Both offenses played well that game and it's been so long I will have to take a look back at the film and see what we need to do in order to be successful" mentioned Head Coach Andy Burkholder.
Stonehill sees their season come to an end at 19-9 and 14-7 in the NE-10 and will await a possible at-large berth in the upcoming NCAA Championship Tournament.
Tied at 50 apiece with 9:09 left in regulation the game remained tight down the stretch and the Jackets hit some crucial shots and caused timely miscue's to solidify the victory.
Junior Cameron Dobbs (Albany, N.Y.) drilled a three pointer to make the score 56-52 with 6:54 remaining, but on the ensuing possession the Skyhawks answered as sophomore Jimmy Walsh (Manasquan, N.J.) hit a three of his own cutting the lead back to one-point.
Porter and Dobbs then hit back-to-back layups and after a Cole layup down the other end junior Trahmier Burrell (Albany, N.Y.) converted a traditional three point play for the 63-57 lead with 3:48 to play.
Stonehill sophomore Ryan Logan (Fredericktown, Ohio) again cut the deficit to just one after hitting a layup and draining a three with 2:41 remaining for the 63-62 score.
However, that was as close as the visitors would get as AIC hit their free-throws down the stretch and caused crucial turnovers for the final score.
"At times (down the stretch) we defending a little better and limited them to one shot, we were then able to rebound and score by throwing it ahead" stated Burkholder. "We are best when we are in tranisition and we were able to get some stops, kick the ball ahead and get some good looks."
The First half favored Stonehill early on as they started off sizzling from behind the arc to grab the early 6-0 lead as junior classmates Adam Bramanti (Middletown, Mass.) and Carter Smith (Columbus, Ohio) each dialed one in from behind the arc and senior Jack Cole (New Providence, N.J.) also connected from deep as part of an 11-4 run over the first five plus minutes of the game.
AIC responded with seven straight points to tie it at 11-11 as the teams traded buckets over the next seven minutes until the Jackets were able to grab their first lead of the game off a three-pointer from Porter with 5:10 to play before the half. This was part of an 8-0 spurt in which he combined for six points to give the hosts their largest lead of the first frame at 27-21.
The Skyhawks would score six of the final eight points of the half to head into the locker room down just two at 29-27.
The Jackets came out of the break hot and embarked on a 13-4 run over the first five minutes giving them their largest lead of 11 points at 42-31. The spurt was highlighted by four points from Burrell and a three-ball by senior Bobby Harris (Berlin, N.J.).
Then down 47-37 with 12:40 to play the Skyhawks used an 11-0 run over the next three minutes bookended by five straight points by junior Pierce Cumpstone (Bainbridge Township, Ohio) and a traditional three-point play from Cole to give the visitors their first lead since the 6:02 mark of the first at 48-47 setting up the finish.
Along with the 25 from Porter; Burrell added 13 points while Dobbs and Harris each turned in 12 of their own to pace the offense. Cole led the way for Stonehill with 18 points and 8 boards and Logan chipped in with 10 point for the visitors.
"The first time we played Stonehill they had trouble guarding (Porter)" Burkholder commented. "We tried to isolate him by giving him the ball at the top to give him a chance to create for him and others on the team. He is just a hard match-up at 6 foot 5, (he) can put the ball on the floor and he can shoot it so he is hard to stay in front of."
Both teams shot well from the field with AIC hitting 26-of-54 (48 percent) and the Skyhawks draining 25-of-51 attempts (49 percent). Stonehill also held the slim edge in rebounds at 30-24.
