BOX SCORE

MANCHESTER, N.H. - Sophomore Cory Vejraska (Alachua, FL) totaled career highs in points (20) and rebounds (11) to lead seventh-seeded Southern New Hampshire University to a 62-57 win over No. 10 seed The College of Saint Rose in the first round of the Northeast-10 Men's Basketball Championship Saturday afternoon at the SNHU Fieldhouse.  The Penmen improve to 17-11 and advance to Monday's quarterfinal round, where it will travel to face second-seeded UMass Lowell in a 7:00 contest.  The Golden Knights see their season come to a close at 11-17.

Vejraska, who also totaled three steals, was 6-10 from the floor and connected on a pair of three-pointers.  Troy Bowen (Nashua, NH) connected on three threes and totaled 11 points, while Stephen Wood (South Jamaica Queens, NY) finished with nine points, five rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals.  Tory Stapleton (Rahway, NJ) added nine points.

Jermaine Clark led all scorers with 27 points for Saint Rose, going 10-20 from the floor and 5-10 from three-point land.  Shea Bromirski drained three threes and scored 13 points, while Brian Hanuschak totaled 11 points and seven rebounds.

Southern New Hampshire led 48-38 with just under 13 minutes to play when Saint Rose scored 15 unanswered points to take a 53-48 lead with 7:17 left following a fast-break layup by Brian Ledbetter.  Bromirski and Clark started off the run with back-to-back threes, and the Golden Knights took the lead on another three by Clark at the 7:48 mark.

The Penmen responded with six straight points of their own and a three at the top of the key by Wood with 5:31 left gave SNHU a 54-53 lead.  Clark scored at the other end to reclaim the lead for Saint Rose.  The game would remain scoreless until the 2:46 mark, when Wood found a cutting Stapleton for a layup to give the Penmen the lead for good.

Saint Rose turned the ball over on its next possession, and Bowen would drain a three with 2:19 left to put the Penmen up four.  At the other end, Clark hit a tough layup in the lane to cut the lead to two, but those would be the last two points the guests would score.  The Golden Knights would be down two with 39 seconds left with the ball, but a three from the right corner by Ledbetter was long and Stapleton would grab the board with 25 seconds to go.  It took Saint Rose 15 seconds to foul, and Wood would make two at the line with 10.8 seconds left to seal the win.

The two teams traded the lead four times in the first four minutes of the second half before the Penmen went on an 11-0 run to take a 48-38 lead with 12:47 to play.  Vejraska had eight points during the run, breaking a 38-38 deadlock with a three then hitting another three to put Southern New Hampshire up 10.

Southern New Hampshire led most of the first half and took its largest lead of the game, 19-12, 9:27 in on a three-pointer by Bowen.  Saint Rose was down six with 52 seconds left, but Clark scored five unanswered points and his three with 20 seconds left pulled the Golden Knights within one, 32-31, at halftime.

The Penmen took 13 more trips to the free throw line than Saint Rose, but were just 12-21 at the charity stripe while the Golden Knights were 7-8.  Southern New Hampshire outrebounded Saint Rose 35-27.

SNHU and UMass Lowell split a pair of meetings this season.  The Penmen prevailed this past Tuesday at home with a 70-62 win over the River Hawks.

NOTES: Stapleton saw a string of reaching double figures in scoring snapped at 17 games...the Penmen posted their first postseason victory since the 2005-06 season...Southern New Hampshire is now 3-0 against Saint Rose all-time in the Northeast-10 Tournament...the Penmen avenged a 76-72 loss to the Golden Knights at home during the regular season...SNHU has won seven in a row at the SNHU Fieldhouse and improved to 11-3 at home this season.