BOX SCORE
MANCHESTER, N.H. - Stephen
Wood (South Jamaica Queens, NY) led four Southern New
Hampshire University players in double figures with 21 points as
the Penmen upset Merrimack College 77-73 in Northeast-10 men's
basketball Wednesday night at the SNHU Fieldhouse. SNHU
improved to 11-10 overall and 7-9 in the NE-10, while the Warriors,
who entered the game ranked No. 5 in the East Region, are now 15-6
and 11-5 in the league.
Wood, who was 9-14 from the floor,
also grabbed 11 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the
season. Gerald Carter
(Harlem, NY) totaled 16 points and five assists, while Troy Bowen (Nashua,
NH) added 15 points and nine rebounds on 5-8 shooting. Tory
Stapleton (Rahway, NJ) reached double figures for the
11th straight game with 10 points.
Roland Davis led Merrimack with 20
points off the bench, going 6-9 from three-point land. Darren
Duncan totaled 19 points and six assists, while Darin Mency added
12 points.
After trailing 48-38 at halftime,
Southern New Hampshire took its first lead of the second half with
5:21 left on a baseline jumper by Bowen. The Penmen took a
66-61 lead with 3:15 left on a three by Lucas Croteau
(Rochester, NH), but the Warriors would tie the game with 2:08 to
play on a pair of free throws by Jared Brownlee. Stapleton
would give SNHU the lead for good with 1:42 to play on a layup.
Clinging to a one-point lead
following a pair of free throws by Duncan at the 1:04 mark, the
Penmen bumped the lead to four on a three from the right corner by
Cory
Vejraska (Alachua, FL) with 37 ticks on the clock that
made it 75-71. Davis was off the mark with a three on
Merrimack's next possession, and Stapleton would sink a pair at the
line with 23 seconds to play to seal the win.
Neither team converted a field goal
in the first 7:54 of the second half until Wood making a layup at
the 12:06 mark to make it 49-41. The Penmen used a 9-0 run to
tie the game at 56 with 6:34 to go on a finger roll by Bowen.
Wayne Mack scored for the Warriors on their next possession to
reclaim a two-point lead, but Carter scored for the Penmen at the
5:44 mark to tie the game at 58.
Southern New Hampshire took a 19-12
lead with just under 12 minutes to play in the first half on a
three-pointer by Wood. Merrimack scored the next 10 points
and a three by Craig Woehnker at the 9:42 mark gave the Warriors a
22-19 lead. Merrimack held a 40-30 lead with just over three
minutes to play in the half before SNHU used a 8-1 run to cut the
lead to three, 41-38, with 1:25 left on a three-pointer by
Bowen. Merrimack scored the final seven points of the half
and a Davis basket with two seconds remaining gave the guests a
48-38 lead at halftime.
SNHU shot 65.2% (15-23) from the
floor in the second half and 56.9% for the game, while limiting the
Warriors to just 22.6% shooting (7-31) over the final 20 minutes
after they were 20-33 (60.6%) in the first half. The Penmen
connected on nine of their 17 three-point attempts and held a 34-31
rebounding advantage.
Southern New Hampshire returns to
action Saturday when it travels to nationally-ranked Stonehill for
a 3:30
contest.
NOTES: The Penmen
made their final six field goal attempts of the game and nine of
their last 10...Southern New Hampshire improved to 6-0 when
shooting over 50% from the floor...the 10-point halftime deficit is
the largest overcome this season.
