BOX SCORE
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Troy Bowen (Nashua, NH) led five
Southern New Hampshire University players in double figures with 16
points as the Penmen handed Nyack College a 76-69 defeat in men's
basketball Saturday afternoon at the SNHU Fieldhouse. The
Penmen, who won their fourth in a row, improved to 6-3, while the
Warriors are now 4-6 on the season.
Bowen finished 6-10 from the floor
and connected on a pair of three pointers. Stephen
Wood (South Jamaica Queens, NY) recorded his third
straight double-double and fifth of the season with 12 points and a
career-high 16 rebounds while also dishing out four
assists. Tory Stapleton (Rahway, NJ) added
13 points and five rebounds, while Cory Vejraska
(Alachua, FL) totaled 11 points, five rebounds and four
assists. Kelly Coder (Exeter, NH) had eight
of his 10 points in the first half, going 4-6 from the floor and
2-4 from behind the arc.
Valiant Jones and Stedford Mcleod
led Nyack with 15 points apiece, while Aundrae Williams added 11
points and seven rebounds.
Nyack trailed 58-55 midway through
the second half when Jose Lopez hit back-to-back three pointers to
give the Warriors a 61-58 lead. The Penmen would then go on a
12-3 run to take a 70-63 lead with four minutes to play.
Bowen gave SNHU the lead for good with his trifecta at the 5:22
mark, then capped the run with a layup. The Warriors would
get the lead down to five in the closing moments, but the Penmen
sealed the win by hitting four free throws in the final 14 seconds.
The Penmen led 42-36 at halftime
and opened up an eight-point advantage early in the second half,
but Nyack used a 9-2 run to take a 49-48 lead on a Jones basket
with 14:14 on the clock. Southern New Hampshire reclaimed the
lead 47 seconds later on a three by Vejraska. Nyack would tie
the game three times but didn't edge back in front until Lopez'
pair of three-pointers.
The Warriors built a 15-12 lead
seven and a half minutes into the game but SNHU would score eight
unanswered points to take a 20-15 lead with 10:21 left in the first
half. The Penmen would use another 8-0 run to take their
largest lead of the game, 35-24, with 4:51 to go on a Stapleton
layup. Nyack scored the next six points to make it a 35-30
game, but that would be as close as it would get in the first half
as the Penmen held a 42-36 halftime lead.
SNHU prevailed despite just
shooting 35.5% (11-31) over the final 20 minutes and 40.9% for the
game. The Penmen generated a 25-10 advantage in free throw
opportunities and were 16-25 at the stripe as opposed to Nyack's
5-10 effort. The Penmen outrebounded the Warriors 23-16 in
the second half and 43-41 for the game and matched a season low by
committing just 12 turnovers.
Southern New Hampshire returns to
action December 29 when it faces Post University in the first round
of the Bridgeport Holiday Tournament at 6:00.
NOTES: Saturday's
game was the 400th SNHU men's basketball game played at
the SNHU Fieldhouse since it opened in 1980...the Penmen are 306-94
(.765) at the Fieldhouse all-time...Wood is averaging 15.7 points
and 13.3 rebounds over the last three games.
