Men's Basketball Looks to Sink Dolphins
SNHU (7-5, 3-4 Northeast-10)
vs.
Le Moyne (6-5, 2-5 Northeast-10)
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 - 7:30 pm
SNHU Fieldhouse - Manchester, N.H.
Radio - WTPL 107.7 FM
THE MATCHUP: Southern New Hampshire plays the first of 15 straight Northeast-10 games Tuesday night when it hosts Le Moyne.
THE COACHES: Stan Spirou is in his 27th season as head coach at Southern New Hampshire...he owns a 517-269 (.658) career record in 26-plus seasons at the helm...Spirou was honored as the New England Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year four times (1993, 94, 95, 99) and has led the Penmen to 14 NCAA Tournaments, four NCAA Regional titles and fourteen 20 win seasons...Steve Evans is in his 12th season at Le Moyne...Evans owns a career 158-163 record in 11-plus seasons.
THE SERIES:SNHU holds a 17-13 record in the all-time series with Le Moyne...the two teams met just once last season, with the Penmen prevailing 62-58 in Syracuse for the first road win for SNHU in the series since 2005-06...in a game that saw six lead changes and neither team leading by more than six, the Penmen took control late...Lucas Croteau lead Southern New Hampshire with a then-career-high 16 points, while Greg DeSantis totaled 14 points and Tory Stapleton 12...Chris Johnson led the Dolphins with 17 points, while Kevin Roth registered 12 points and 15 rebounds.
THE PENMEN: Southern New Hampshire has won two in a row and is coming off an 84-80 road win at C.W. Post Friday night...freshman Elijah Bonsignore currently leads the Penmen in scoring (12.1 ppg) while also grabbing 4.3 rebounds per game...Bonsignore is shooting 52.3% from the floor and ranks second in the Northeast-10 with 26 blocked shots...Tory Stapleton had a season-high 19 points in the win over the Pioneers and is scoring at a 10.2 ppg clip while grabbing a team-best 7.2 rebounds per game...Greg DeSantis is averaging 18 points per game over the past two wins and is averaging 10.1 ppg, while freshman BJ Cardarelli is adding 10.0 ppg while grabbing 4.9 rebounds per game...Cardarelli has knocked down a team-high 16 three-pointers...Aleksandar Dobrovic is recording 9.3 points and 5.5 rebounds per game...the Penmen are shooting .435 overall, .359 behind the arc and .672 at the free throw line while allowing opponents to shoot .430 overall and .365 behind the arc...the Penmen are scoring 71.8 points per game while allowing 67.9 and are outrebounding teams 38.7-36.2.
THE DOLPHINS: Le Moyne has won three in a row and is coming off a 65-57 win against Mansfield on Friday...Brian Zapisek leads the Dolphins in both scoring (13.8 ppg) and rebounding (7.7 rpg) while knocking down 19 three-pointers...Jim Janson is shooting 63.4% from the floor and averaging 12.5 points and 7.1 rebounds per game, while Nate Champion is recording 10.1 points and 5.7 assists per game...Chris Johnson has knocked down a team-best 23 three-pointers and is adding 8.5 ppg..the Dolphins are shooting .477 overall, .351 from three-point land and .628 at the free throw line while allowing opponents to shoot .410 overall and .297 behind the arc...Le Moyne is scoring 69.6 ppg while allowing 67.5 while outrebounding foes 35.4-34.1...the Dolphins lead the Northeast-10 in field goal percentage.
WHAT'S NEXT: SNHU is on the road for its next two games, traveling to Assumption Saturday and Saint Rose next Wednesday...the Penmen return home January 14 against a surprising New Haven squad.
