Easton, Mass. (January 2) -- After rallying to within three points in the second half, the Saint Anselm men's basketball team came up short in a 68-58 loss at Stonehill on Wednesday night in Northeast-10 action at Merkert Gym.

In the first half, the two teams started out slow as the Hawks took a 2-0 lead on a reverse layup by Jeff Dickson (Bedford, N.H.) over three minutes into the game. That sparked the Skyhawks though as the hosts then embarked on an 11-0 run over the next 3:01 and held an 11-2 lead after a three-point basket from Nick Smith (Colonia, N.J.). Stonehill built the lead to as many as 15 at 24-9 with 6:19 remaining on a turnaround jumper from Randall Stallworth (Toms River, N.J.) and the Skyhawks seemed in control. Saint Anselm answered through as freshman Thomas Baudinet (Watertown, Conn.) scored seven points in the closing minutes of the period and the Hawks trailed 32-23 at the break. Baudinet led the Hawks with seven points in the half, while Stallworth and Smith led the Skyhawks with nine points each. Just over six minutes into the game, Nick Smith scored his 1000th career point for Stonehill.

Baudinet picked up where he left off as he knocked down two quick jumpers, along with a layup from Giovanni Carenza (East Hanover, N.J.), and the Hawks were back within five at 34-29 with 18:17 remaining. Matt Hall (Springfield, Mass.) answered for the Skyhawks though with a three-pointer and a free throw for the four-point play and a fast break layup as the lead went back to nine points. The lead went into double figures on a number of ocassions, including at 48-38 on the third three-pointer of the game from Stallworth with 11:50 remaining. The Hawks battled back though and after a layup by Dickson, trailed 48-42 with 10:33 left and forced the Skyhawks to call a full timeout. Saint Anselm continued to rally and closed to within three points at 50-47 on a layup from Chris Vetrano (Andover, Mass.), the closest the Hawks had been since the early minutes of the first half. That was as close as the Hawks would get though as Stonehill closed the game on a 12-7 run for the 10-point victory.

The Hawks were led by 14 points from Baudinet, who was joined in double figures by Lewis Thompson (Wall, N.J.) with 12 points. Hall led all scorers with 23 points, joined in double figures by Stallworth with 13 points and Smith with 10 points.

With the loss, Saint Anselm falls to 5-6 overall and 3-4 in league play, while Stonehill improves to 9-6 overall and 5-3 in the Northeast-10. The Hawks are back in action Tuesday, January 8th as the team takes on Saint Rose beginning at 7:30 p.m. in Albany, N.Y.