BOX SCORE 

NEW HAVEN, Conn. - Freshman Marcus Matthews (Valley Stream, NY) totaled a season-high 17 points to lead Southern New Hampshire University to a 66-50 win over Southern Connecticut State University in Northeast-10 men's basketball Thursday night at Moore Fieldhouse.  The Penmen, who snapped a three-game slide with the victory, improved to 8-6 and 4-5 in the NE-10, while the Owls fall to 1-12 and 0-9 in the league.

Matthews finished 7-8 from the floor and also grabbed five rebounds while making three steals.  Troy Bowen (Nashua, NH) was 4-8 from three-point land and totaled 12 points and five rebounds, while Stephen Wood (South Jamaica Queens, NY) finished with 12 points and eight rebounds.  Cory Vejraska (Alachua, FL) added nine points.

John Mazzarella led Southern Connecticut with 16 points and seven rebounds while Terron Jones added 12 points.

Southern New Hampshire jumped out wth five quick points in the first minute and opened up a 22-15 lead midway through the first half on a layup by Kelly Coder (Exeter, NH).  The Penmen took their largest lead of the first half when Coder hit a three at the 1:57 mark to make it 36-24.  The Owls scored the final five points of the half and a basket by Derrick Corbett 40 seconds before intermission made it 36-29 at the break.

The Penmen outscored the Owls 10-5 over the first seven minutes of the second half and a conventional three-point play by Wood with 12:51 left made it 46-34.  Southern Connecticut would cut the lead to eight three times, the last coming on a Mazzarella basket with 9:34 left that made it 48-40, but would get no closer.

Southern New Hampshire shot 52.3% for the game (23-44) and connected on seven of its 16 three-point attempts (43.8%) while also converting 13 of 19 free throws.  The Owls, who were outrebounded 28-25, were just 4-17 from behind the arc and made just three trips to the foul line, going 2-3.

SNHU returns home to host Saint Rose in a 3:30 game Saturday at the SNHU Fieldhouse.