Worcester, Mass. (February 11) -- Trailing by a 40-37 margin at the half, the Assumption College men's basketball team opened the second half on a 26-4 run and eventually held off Stonehill College by an 82-78 final on Tuesday night in Northeast-10 Conference divisional play.

In the opening 3:24, the Skyhawks jumped out to a 10-4 lead with six points in the paint early, including a layup from freshman Jimmy Walsh. Stonehill continued to lead by six at 16-10 with 12 minutes left before a 6-0 Hounds run, capped by a layup from junior captain Jimmy Zenevitch (Methuen, Mass./Central Catholic), to tie the game at 16-16 with 10:13 remaining. The Skyhawks regained the lead on the next possession and led by no more than four until there was 4:50 left in the opening half as junior Jack Cole hit back-to-back jumpers for a 34-27 lead.

The visitors maintained at least a three-point lead over the remainder of the period and the Skyhawks took a 40-37 lead into the break after a late Zenevitch layup in the half. Zenevitch led the Hounds with 11 points off the bench in the half, while freshman guard Reilly Reid (Mississauga, Ontario/Lorne Park Secondary School) added nine points and five rebounds. The Hounds shot 48.5 percent from the field in the half, but just 22.2 percent from three-point land.

Stonehill shot 60 percent from the field in the first half as Cole posted 10 points to go along with nine points from sophomore Josh Heyliger.

Assumption came out flying in the second half and connected on its first five field goal attempts for a 13-2 run that gave the Hounds a 50-42 lead with exactly 16 minutes remaining. A layup by sophomore Tim Kasper (Cologne, Germany/Gymnasium Schloss Hagerhof) just 31 seconds into the period was the basket that put Assumption in front and a Zenevitch three was the bucket for the eight-point lead.

Defensively, the Hounds cracked down and held Stonehill to just one field goal and two overall points over a stretch of 9:08 as Assumption led by as many as 19 points at 63-44 with just over nine minutes left. Overall, the Hounds opened the second half on a 26-4 run that was capped by a layup from Julian Aiken (Randolph, N.J./Randolph), who finished the game with eight points and four assists. Assumption remained in control with a 76-61 lead with 3:07 left after a Kasper layup before the Skyhawks put together a rally that nearly gave them the victory.

A three-pointer from sophomore Adam Bramanti got the scoring spurt started, but the Hounds bounced back quickly and with a pair of Marcus Murray (Silver Spring, Md./John F. Kennedy) free throws and still led 80-70 with just 44 seconds remaining in the second half. Stonehill's Carter Smith scored on a layup, which was followed by an Assumption turnover and a Smith three-pointer to slice the lead in half to just five with 25 ticks remaining. Murray was fouled on the next possession and hit one of two free throws before Cole knocked down his lone three of the game to make it just a three-point game at 81-78 with under 10 seconds on the clock.

Freshman Jack Sullivan (Stony Point, N.Y./Albertus Magnus) connected on one of two free throw attempts later to extend to the 82-78 lead as Stonehill's final possession came up empty as the Hounds split the regular-season series with the Skyhawks.

Zenevitch led the Hounds with a 25-point effort to go along with seven rebounds as he missed tying his career high by just three points. He was 10-for-16 from the field while adding two steals in 33 minutes off the bench. Murray posted 13 points, along with a near double-double from Kasper with 11 points and nine rebounds. For the game, the Hounds shot 48.4 percent from the field and connected on 18-of-23 free throw attempts. On the glass, Assumption held a commanding 37-24 advantage, including 13-5 on the offensive end.

Smith paced four Skyhawks in double figures with 20 points, along with 15 from Cole and 14 each from Bramanti and Heyliger. Smith also led the visitors with six assists as the team shot 50 percent from the field, 50 percent from three and 74.1 percent from the free throw line.

With the win, Assumption improves to 6-16 overall and 4-13 in the Northeast-10, while Stonehill drops to 7-15 overall and 4-13 in the league.

Assumption is back in action on Saturday, February 15th as the Hounds host Merrimack College for a 3:30 p.m. start. The day is also their Alumni Game, which will be held at 11 a.m. prior to the men's and women's doubleheader.

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