For Immediate Release

March 3, 2012

To watch highlights and interviews from the Championship Final, Click here.

South Easton, Mass. - Third-seeded Stonehill College led from start to finish in defeating fourth-seeded University of Massachusetts Lowell, 73-61, Saturday afternoon at Merkert Gymnasium in the 2012 Northeast-10 Conference Men's Basketball Championship game.  Stonehill senior Andre Tongo scored 23 points and was named the Championship's Most Outstanding Player.

It marks Stonehill's first Northeast-10 Championship in the sport since 1989.

The Skyhawks scored the first seven points of the game, and would never trail en route to the title.  Following a lay up by junior guard Brian Hamor at the midway point of the first half, Stonehill had their largest lead of the game at 23-9. 

Hamor (nine points and two assists) and Patrick Lee (nine points and thirteen rebounds) joined Tongo on the All-Championship team.  Stonehill had six players finish the game with at least nine points in Saturday's win.

UMass Lowell sophomore guard Akeem Williams led all scorers with 25 points in the losing effort.

The River Hawks trailed by 10 at the half, 36-26, but pulled to within one early in the second half after a furious run to start the second half of play. 

UMass Lowell outscored Stonehill 11-2 in the first four minutes to pull to within one, but would never take the lead as Tongo would hit two crucial three-point shots to extend the Stonehill lead to double digits.

With the win, Stonehill earns the Northeast-10 Conference's automatic bid to participate in the 2012 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship, which will begin next Saturday, March 10. Despite the loss, UMass Lowell should also receive an at-large bid when the championship field is announced Sunday evening.

2012 Men's Basketball All-Championship Team   (Pictured)
Robbie Walton, UMass Lowell
Akeem Williams, UMass Lowell
Brian Hamor, Stonehill
Patrick Lee, Stonehill
Andre Tongo, Stonehill

Most Outstanding Player - Andre Tongo, Stonehill

The Northeast-10 is an association of 16 NCAA Division II colleges and universities located in New England and New York that is committed to supporting balanced academic and athletic opportunities for more than 5,500 student-athletes. Each year, 4,000 of those student-athletes compete in Conference championships in 23 sports, making the NE-10 the largest DII conference in the country. Leading the way in the classroom, on the field and within the community, the Northeast-10 is proud of its comprehensive program and the experience it provides student-athletes.

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