The Game
Stonehill College wraps up its season-long four game homestand as it hosts Northeast Conference leaders Fairleigh Dickinson for an NEC matchup as part of NEC “Speaks Up” on Martin Luther King, Jr., Day on Paula Sullivan Court at Merkert Gymnasium tonight. The Skyhawks are looking to bounce back from a tough 59-47 setback to Merrimack here on Saturday, while the Knights are winners of five in a row, including a 4-0 start to their NEC slate after Saturday’s 88-80 win at Central Connecticut State in New Britain, Connecticut.

NEC “Speaks Up” MLK Day Monday
Stonehill and the Northeast Conference will commemorate the life of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., during a full slate of men’s and women’s games on Monday. The NEC echoes Dr. King’s words, “He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it.” To carry on his legacy, the conference encourages NEC student-athletes, coaches and fans to speak up and share their unique stories of bringing about change through activism and advocacy. For more information, visit the NEC’s website at NortheastConference.org/NECSpeaksU. All NEC teams will be wearing special commemorative NEC Speaks Up shooting shirts during the games on Monday.

Media Information
Tonight’s game is being broadcast live on SkyhawksVision and NEC Front Row. Charlie Bergeron (PBP) and Brian Buckley (analyst) have the call of the action for tonight. The broadcast can be accessed via stonehillskyhawks.com through its NEC Front Row portal (necfrontrow.com/schools/SC) or through Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku via the NEC On the Run App.

Last Time Out
Merrimack held Stonehill to just 25 points over the final 28-minutes, including 18 in the second half, to secure a 59-47 victory in Northeast Conference men’s basketball action here at Merkert Gym on Saturday. Senior Jordan Minor, the NEC Preseason Player of the Year, paced Merrimack with game-highs of 18 points and 14 rebounds for a double-double on 7-of-16 shooting, with two steals. Postgrad Max Zegarowski notched his first double-double at Stonehill (fourth career) with 17 points and a season-high ten rebounds as he connected on 6-of-9 shots, including 3-for-6 from long range, and added two assists. Fifth-year Andrew Sims added 12 points, pulling to within six points of the 1,000-point plateau, and nine rebounds

Against the Knights
Tonight marks the fifth meeting all-time between Stonehill and Fairleigh Dickinson, but the first since a 68-53 Stonehill victory during the 1973-74 season. Stonehill holds a 3-1 advantage in the all-time series that dates back to 1965, having won the last three encounters after FDU notched a 61-55 decision in the inaugural meeting on February 6, 1965. While Stonehill head coach Chris Kraus ’06 will be facing FDU for the first time in his career, Knights head coach Tobin Anderson is 5-3 over his career against the Skyhawks, from his time at Saint Thomas Aquinas College, all of which are head to head coaching matchup with Kraus.

Prime Performer
Stonehill fifth-year Isaiah Burnett (Annapolis, Md.) was named an NEC Prime Performer for the second-straight week and fifth-time this season overall on Monday. He averaged 13.0 points, 7.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists in the 2-0 NEC week for the Skyhawks, converting 14-of-15 (93.3%) free-throws for the week. Burnett paced Stonehill to Thursday’s 62-55 win over Wagner as he stuffed the box score with 12 of his team-high 16 points in the second half, aided by 10-of-11 shooting at the free-throw line, with seven rebounds and a career-high matching five steals – including three on three-straight Seahawk possessions to spark a 14-2 Stonehill run. Burnett also chipped in with ten points, seven boards and a steal in Saturday’s 51-49 win over CCSU. Burnett and fellow fifth-year Andrew Sims (Mount Laurel, N.J.) now share the team lead with five NEC Prime Performer selections this season and the duo have both collected NEC Player of the Week accolades once. Postgrad Max Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.)  has earned Prime Performer honors once to round out the Skyhawk selections.

NEC Prime Performers:
Nov. 14: Andrew Sims & Isaiah Burnett
Nov. 21: Isaiah Burnett
Nov. 28: Andrew Sims
Dec. 5: Andrew Sims & Max Zegarowski
Dec. 12: Isaiah Burnett
Dec. 19: Andrew Sims
Jan. 2: Andrew Sims & Isaiah Burnett
Jan. 9: Isaiah Burnett

Stonehill Start in Perspective
With a 3-1 record over the first two weeks of NEC play, Stonehill has tied for second-best start among league newcomers in conference history.
Five Best NEC Starts Among League Newcomers
UMBC started 4-0 (on its way to 15-0) in 1998-99
Merrimack started 3-1 (on its way to 10-1) in 2019-20
Stonehill has started 3-1 in 2022-23
Rider started 3-1 (on its way to 5-2) in 1992-93
Mount St. Mary’s started 2-2 (on its way to 5-2) in 1989-90

Movin’ On Up!
Fifth-year forward Andrew Sims (Mount Laurel, N.J.) tonight’s game just six points shy of becoming the 43rd player in Stonehill history to reach teh 1,000-point plateau for their career. Sims has scored 994 points in 91 career games played as a 47.3-percent shooter for his career. He looks to become the program’s first 1,000-point scorer since former teammate Owen Chose ’22 surpassed the milestone at Caldwell on November 13 of last season.

Globe Mass Top 10
Stonehill fifth-year forward Andrew Sims (Mount Laurel, N.J.) was recognized by the Boston Globe on January 2 as one of the top ten players among the nine NCAA Division I men’s basketball programs in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Sims was ranked No. 9 by Globe men’s basketball columnist Trevor Hass, while postgrad Max Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.) received honorable mention status. Harvard’s Chris Ledlum leads the list that also includes Northeastern’s Jahmyl Telfort (No. 2), Noah Fernandes of UMass (No. 3), Walter Whyte of Boston University (No. 4), Makai Ashton-Langford of Boston College (No. 5), UMass Lowell’s Abdoul Karim Coulibaly (No. 6), Jordan Minor from Merrimack (No. 7), Holy Cross’ Gerrale Gates (No. 8) and Everette Hammond of UMass Lowell (No. 10).

Milestone Max
Postgrad Max Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.) could give Stonehill two 1,000-point scorers on its roster, having scored 921 points in 79 career games, including his time at Lynn and Franklin Pierce.

Stop… Thief!
After matching his career-best with five steals for the third time in last week’s win over Wagner, Stonehill fifth-year Isaiah Burnett (Annapolis, Md.) reclaimed the NEC lead in steals with 2.8 per game, which would rank fourth nationally. His 51 thefts share the Division I lead along with Jaelen House of New Mexico and he has now recorded a steal in all 18 contests this season and 24-straight games dating back to last year. He has collected a career-high matching five thefts at Boston College on December 13 and at Binghamton on December 3 prior to Wagner on Thursday. Burnett led the NE10 with 2.3 steals per game last year, collecting his 100th career steal at Bradley on December 19. (Note that due to NCAA Division I reclassification, Stonehill does not officially appear among NCAA statistical leaders for four years)

Did You Know?
Of the top 15 scorers in the NEC this season, ten are newcomers to the league. Three of those play for Stonehill in fifth-year Andrew Sims (Mount Laurel, N.J.) who ranks fourth with 15.7 points per game, while fellow fifth-year Isaiah Burnett (Annapolis, Md.) ranks 11th (12.3 ppg) and postgrad Max Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.) ranks 13th (12.2 ppg).

Home Cooking!
Albeit a small sample size of just five games, including one non-Division I opponent, Stonehill is averaging 73.4 points per game at home this season, above its season average of 68.8 ppg. The Skyhawks have shot 45.7-percent from the field at Merkert Gym this season, including 38.5% from three-point distance, compared to 43.8% from the floor and 35.3% from three for the entire season. Postgrad Max Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.) has found the Merkert rims friendly in his first year as a Skyhawk, averaging 16.0 points on 47.2% shooting, including 16-for-35 (45.7%) from three.

Top 15 for I.B.
Stonehill fifth-year Isaiah Burnett (Annapolis, Md.) ranks in the top-15 among NEC leaders in seven categories, including his Conference-best 2.8 steals per game. He ranks seventh in free-throw percentage (.778), tenth in field goal percentage (.444) and defensive rebounds (3.8), 11th in scoring (12.3 ppg) and assists (2.5) and 14th in rebounding (4.6 rpg).

Triples Duo
Postgrad Max Zegarowski (South Hamilton, Mass.) and fifth-year Shamir Johnson (Waterbury, Conn.) ranks second and third among NEC three-point shooting leaders, respectively. Zegarowski also ranks second in the NEC with 2.5 three-point field goals per game, connecting on 42.9-percent – tops in the NEC among shooters with 20-plus makes this season. Johnson is shooting 39.8-percent from three, while his 1.9 three-pointers per game is tied for sixth.

NE-Defense
Stonehill ranks third in the NEC for scoring defense in Conference games only, allowing 61.8 points per game in NEC play this season, ranking third in NEC field goal percentage defense (..391) as one of three in the Conference holding league opposition under 40-percent shooting, and three-point percentage defense (.309).

In Transition
Stonehill announced it had accepted an invitation to join the Northeast Conference and commence a four-year transition to full NCAA Division I membership on April 5. The Skyhawks started their four-year transition on July 1 and will earn full NCAA Division I membership in 2026-27. At the June NEC meetings, the Conference presidents announced a shift in the waiting period for automatic qualifier sports from competing for NEC postseason championships from four to two years, making Stonehill eligible to compete in the NEC postseason starting in 2024-25.

Proud History
Stonehill won the Northeast-10 Presidents’ Cup six times, finishing in the top three in the final standings 15 of the last 17 years. Stonehill was one of just ten institutions nationwide to receive the NCAA Division II Presidents’ Award for Academic Achievement, recognizing athletic departments with an Academic Success rating of 90-percent or better, each of the first ten years of the program’s existence. The College ranks No. 98 in the category of National Liberal Arts Schools by U.S. News & World Report and No. 94 for the Best Value category.

Hoop History
Stonehill men’s basketball earned 15 NCAA Division II Tournament bids over its history, the last was halted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Stonehill were charter members of the Northeast-10 Conference, winning the first two tournament championships in 1981 and ’82, finishing its time in the Conference with four postseason titles and six regular season championships.

Getting Social
Fans and media members of Stonehill athletics have multiple social media outlets to get updates on all 23 varsity programs. The department’s Facebook page is www.facebook.com/stonehillskyhawks, and you can also follow @GoStonehill on Twitter and @stonehillskyhawks via Instagram! You can also search for Stonehill men’s basketball on Facebook, follow the team’s Twitter account via @StonehillBball as well as head coach Chris Kraus @CoachChrisKraus, and its new Instagram feed @stonehillbball. 

Up Next
Stonehill hits the road for its next three games, starting Friday with an NEC matchup at LIU at 7 p.m. The Skyhawks next home game is Saturday, January 28, when they host Sacred Heart University for an NEC clash at Merkert Gym at 2 p.m.