EASTON, Mass. - John Williams (Springfield, Mass.) scored a game-high 22 points while Chris Burns (Merrimack, NH) added 12 points as the Bryant men's basketball team dropped a 67-56 decision to Stonehill, Thursday night in the Northeast-10 Conference semifinals.  Stonehill (23-5) will advance to the NE-10 Conference Championship game Saturday against Saint Anselm College which upset top-seeded Bentley. 

Similar to the start of Monday's come-from-behind win over Lowell, Bryant (21-9) struggled offensively throughout the night, shooting just 36.4 percent from the floor including 10 of 30 from three-point range.

The Bulldogs, trailing 38-24 at the half, fell behind 43-27 in the early going of the second half.  A Williams three from the top of the key pulled the Bulldogs back to within 45-35 with 15 minutes left.  But Stonehill would answer as Marquis Taylor drained a turnaround jumper to push the lead back to 52-37 and minutes later followed with a breakaway dunk to make it 56-40 with 8:32 left.

A Burns three from the right side kept Bryant close as the Bulldogs would chip away at the lead, using an 11-2 run highlighted by a Dan Hammond (Brunswick, Maine) three-pointer to cut the lead down to six, 60-54. 

But that would be as close as Bryant would get as the Bulldogs missed five free throw attempts in the final minutes.  Hammond would finish with six points while Jon Ezeokoli (South Orange, NJ) would add 7 plus 5 rebounds.

The Bulldogs played poorly in the first half, allowing Stonehill to shoot 58 percent from the floor in the half.  The Skyhawks raced out to a 10-2 lead and led 30-14 midway through the half.  Bryant, shooting a dismal 38.5 percent, pulled back to within 35-24 on a tough jumper in the lane by Jarrenn Wright (Cincinatti, OH) with under a minute left in the half, but Lance Clarke drained a three in the corner just before the buzzer sending the Skyhawks to a 38-24 lead at the break.  Clarke had nine first half points but was held scoreless in the second half.

Taylor led the Skyhawks with 20 points and six rebounds while Sean Nelson added 16 and 5 boards.  Nick Smith chipped in with 12 on 4 of 6 shooting from the floor.  Stonehill finished the game shooting 51 percent from the floor.

Note … Bryant's John Williams (Springfield, Mass.) was named the co-Player of the Year in the conference, announced Thursday night at the semifinal in Easton.  Wright and Nick Pontes (New Bedford, Mass.) were each named to the Northeast-10 All-Rookie Team.