BOX SCORE
EASTON, Mass. - Troy
Bowen (Nashua, NH) continued his hot shooting with 18
points as Southern New Hampshire University opened an 11-point
halftime lead and never looked back, topping No. 24 Stonehill
College 67-48 in Northeast-10 men's basketball Saturday afternoon
at Merkert Gymnasium. The Penmen won their second straight to
improve to 12-10 and 8-9 in the NE-10, while the Skyhawks, who are
No. 4 in the East Region, are now 17-5 and 12-5 in the league.
Bowen finished 7-12 overall and 4-7
from three-point land as he reached double figures in scoring for
the ninth straight game. Freshman Lucas Croteau
(Rochester, NH) was 5-7 from behind the arc and finished with a
season-high 15 points, while Tory Stapleton
(Rahway, NJ) scored in double figures for the 13th
straight time with 10 points. Stephen Wood (South
Jamaica Queens, NY) recorded seven points, nine rebounds, five
assists and four steals.
Randall Stallworth led Stonehill
with 15 points, while Mike Kernan totaled 10 points and eight
rebounds.
The two teams traded the lead six
times in the first 10 minutes, but the Penmen would take the lead
for good with an 8-0 run capped by a steal and layup by Wood at the
7:03 mark that gave the Penmen a 20-15 lead. Kernan hit a
three on Stonehill's next possession, but Croteau responded with a
trifecta of his own to push the lead back to five. Southern
New Hampshire closed the half on an 8-0 run and a putback by
Stapleton as time expired gave the guests a 34-23 lead at halftime.
SNHU opened the second half on a
10-1 run and a dunk by Gerald Carter
(Harlem, NY) at the 17:35 mark put the Penmen up 20, 44-24.
Stonehill countered with nine unanswered points and a layup by
Stallworth with 15:03 to play made it a 44-33 game. That
would be as close as the Skyhawks would get as a 11-2 run capped by
a Croteau three made it 55-35 with 10:57 to go. Another
Croteau three at the 4:53 mark gave SNHU its largest lead, 63-38.
The Penmen shot a sizzling 56.5%
from three-point land, going 13-23 behind the arc, including a 7-11
effort in the second half, while shooting 52.2% overall (12-22)
over the final 20 minutes. Stonehill was held to just 34.6%
shooting in the second half and 38.8% for the game, including a
4-15 effort behind the arc. SNHU also held a 34-27 rebounding
advantage.
Southern New Hampshire faces its
second-straight ranked opponent when it travels to No. 23 Bentley
Tuesday night for a 7:30 contest.
NOTES: The Penmen
avenged a 72-55 loss to the Skyhawks earlier this season in
Manchester...the win is the second for SNHU over a ranked team this
season, as it topped then-No. 3 Bentley 85-77 in November...Bowen,
who now needs 38 points for 1,000 in his career, is averaging 20
points per game over the last five games...the Penmen are 4-1 over
that stretch.
