January 10, 2009
MBB: EKPERIGIN NETS 28 BUT DOLPHINS FALL TO SKYHAWKS,
86-77
Syracuse, N.Y. - Junior Laurence Ekperigin (Cortlandt
Manor, N.Y./Walter Panas) finished with his ninth straight
double-double but the Le Moyne College men's basketball team fell
to Northeast-10 Conference frontrunner Stonehill College, 86-77, at
Ted Grant Court on Saturday afternoon. Ekperigin netted 28 points
to lead all scorers and pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds.
Stonehill saw five players reach double-figures, led by Matt Hall's
19 points.
Ekperigin's 16-rebound performance included eight on the offensive
end and was one board shy of his career-high. The starting
backcourt of freshman James Cormier (Trumbull,
Conn./Trumbull/Proctor Academy) and junior Damani
Corbin (Brooklyn, N.Y./Frederick Douglas) poured in 15
points each and combined for seven assists. Freshman
Christopher Johnson (Lindenhurst,
N.Y./Lindenhurst) added 14 points for the Dolphins off of
the bench. A.J. Rudowitz scored 17 points, 13 in the second half,
for the Skyhawks, while Nick Smith came off the bench to add 13.
Randall Stallworth and Mike Kernan each tallied 10 points as the
Skyhawks posted their highest scoring output of the season.
The Skyhawks pushed their halftime lead out to 10 points over the
opening two minutes of the second half, then used a 13-4 streak for
a 19-point lead with 13:19 remaining. Kernan, Smith and Colin
Scanlon registered three-pointers for the Skyhawks in the streak.
After Johnson closed his team's deficit to 15 on a pair of foul
shots, Dan Heppert converted a pair of layups and Rudowitz added a
basket in the paint to give Stonehill its largest lead of the
contest at 61-41 with 10:26 left in the game.
Le Moyne started chipping away at its deficit, pulling to within
11 at 72-61 on a layup by Corbin with 3:27 remaining. The Skyhawks
responded with seven consecutive points to go up by 18 with 2:41 to
go in the contest. The Dolphins mounted their last comeback attempt
in the final 2:15, using a 13-3 run to close within eight with 39
seconds remaining. Rudowitz and Stallworth each drilled a pair of
free throws to close out the victory for the Skyhawks.
Stonehill opened the contest on a 12-1 run to take control of the
game. Stallworth started the scoring with a three-pointer from the
left corner just 11 seconds into the game. Following consecutive
baskets by Ekperigin, the Skyhawks scored eight of the game's next
10 points to open up their largest lead of the half at 24-7 with
10:56 remaining.
On Le Moyne's next possession, Johnson drilled a three-pointer to
ignite a 12-2 spurt and pull the Dolphins within seven. Ekperigin
scored the other nine Dolphin points in the stretch as the Dolphins
cut the contest to 26-19 with just under six minutes left in the
stanza. The Skyhawks were able to push their advantage back to 12
points on two occasions, but Cormier scored five points and Corbin
added a free throw to close out the half with Stonehill leading
33-27.
Le Moyne (7-8, NE-10 4-7), which has dropped three consecutive
conference games, returns to action on Wednesday, Jan.14 against
Bentley, the defending regional champion, at 7:30 p.m.
-agate-
Stonehill 86, Le
Moyne 77
Stonehill (12-2, NE-10
7-2)
3
53
-
86
Le Moyne (7-8, NE-10
4-7)
7
50
- 77
