Jabri Abdur-Rahim came off the bench to post 16 points and six rebounds as host Providence defeated Stonehill 76-49 on Saturday night.
Abdur-Rahim did most of his damage from beyond the arc, going 3-for-5 from long range to help the Friars (2-0) start the season with back-to-back wins. Wesley Cardet added 12 points and eight boards.
Fifteen players saw the floor for Providence, and 11 of them scored.
Amir Nesbitt paced the Skyhawks (1-2) with 12 points and five assists but was slowed down by six turnovers. Stonehill was also hampered by a poor showing from Todd Brogna, who had averaged 18 points through the Skyhawks’ first two games of the season.
Brogna was held to three points on 0-for-5 shooting on Saturday. He fouled out after logging 23 minutes of action.
Chas Stinson contributed 10 points for Stonehill, which was outshot from the field, 50 percent to 32.1 percent.
Neither team led by more than three until Wesley Cardet knocked down a 3-pointer with 10:15 left in the first half to put Providence up 22-18.
Stinson soon answered with a dunk for Stonehill, but the Friars then took over.
Providence got eight points from Abdur-Rahim during a game-changing 22-3 run that gave the Friars a 21-point lead. Nesbitt converted a short jumper with 31 seconds remaining in the first half to get the Skyhawks’ deficit down to 44-25 at the break.
Stonehill did show some life following the intermission, though, scoring the first five points of the second half. It later pulled within 13, 50-37, when Christopher Melis connected on a trey with 13:50 to go.
But that was as close as the Skyhawks would get. The Friars rattled off nine unanswered points to go up by 22, then led by at least 17 the rest of the way. Stonehill trailed by 28 on two occasions down the stretch.
–Field Level Media
