BOX SCORE
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Marcus Matthews
(Valley Stream, NY) scored a career-high 18 points and scored a
pair of key baskets late in overtime to lead Southern New Hampshire
University to a 78-75 overtime win over Pace University in
Northeast-10 men's basketball Saturday afternoon at the SNHU
Fieldhouse. The Penmen, who snapped a three-game slide with
the win, improved to 9-9 and 5-8 in the NE-10, while the Setters
are now 6-11 and 4-8 in the league.
Matthews was 5-6 from the floor,
drained both of his three-point attempts and was 6-7 at the free
throw line. Troy Bowen (Nashua, NH)
also scored 18 points for the Penmen, connecting on a pair of
threes. Stephen Wood (South
Jamaica Queens, NY) and Tory Stapleton
(Rahway, NJ) each finished with 12 points and seven rebounds, while
Gerald
Carter (Harlem, NY) finished with 11 points, six
rebounds and five assists.
Adrian Mills led Pace with 20
points while Carlos Howard added 10 points for the Setters.
Deadlocked at 67 in overtime,
Matthews broke the tie when he drove to the basket and converted a
layup with 1:33 left. Carter would come up with a steal on
the next Pace possession and Matthews scored on another layup with
1:12 left to put SNHU up 71-67. The Setters scored with one
minute left when Ryan Woods made a layup off an inbounds play under
its own basket.
Carter made a conventional
three-point play with 42.9 seconds left to put the Penmen back up
five. Woods would keep Pace in it with a three from the left
corner with 21 seconds left that made it 75-73. Matthews
would be fouled and made 1-of-2 at the line, and after Pace
rebounded the second shot, it called a timeout it did not
have. Bowen sank both free throw to make it 78-73.
Woods converted a layup with 11
seconds left, then Pace fouled Wood, who missed a pair at the
line. The Setters would not get off a final shot, as Laurence
McGhee was whistled for a travel with 0.5 seconds remaining.
SNHU trailed 55-45 with 9:23
remaining in regulation after Mills sank a pair at the free throw
line. The Penmen used a 12-5 run to get within three, 60-57,
with 4:55 left on a pair of Bowen free throws, but the guests would
reclaim a seven point advantage when a pair of Delroy Daley free
throws with 3:13 left made it 64-57. Carter put the Penmen
within one, 65-64, with just under a minute left on his layup.
Mills was fouled on Pace's next
trip but missed a pair at the line. SNHU's Wood was fouled
going to the basket with 16.1 seconds to play and made the second
after missing the first at the line. A final attempt in
regulation by Mills was blocked by Wood, sending the game to the
extra frame.
SNHU opened with the game's first
five points, but the first half was a see-saw battle that saw 12
lead changes. The Setters led 26-22 with just over two
minutes in the half, but Will DiIeso
(Hampstead, NH) drained a three on SNHU's next trip, and Bowen
converted a layup with 1:24 left that put the Penmen on top 27-26,
which would be the halftime score.
The Penmen shot a blistering 60.5%
(26-43) for the game and connected on six of their 14 three-point
attempts and 20 of their 32 free throw attempts. Pace was
7-17 behind the arc, but just 14-27 at the charity stripe.
Both teams grabbed 31 rebounds.
Southern New Hampshire returns to
action Wednesday night when it hosts Franklin Pierce University in
a 7:30 contest at the SNHU Fieldhouse.
