VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS
MANCHESTER, N.H. – Heman Honore totaled 22 points on 10-10 shooting as UMass Lowell held off a late Southern New Hampshire University rally to post a 60-58 Northeast-10 men's basketball victory Tuesday night at the SNHU Fieldhouse. The River Hawks remain unbeaten at 4-0 and 2-0 in the NE-10, while the Penmen are 2-2 and 0-2 in the league.
For Honore, it marked a career high in scoring. He also grabbed four rebounds. Robbie Walton and Akeem Williams finished with 10 points apiece for the River Hawks, while Romeo Diaz added nine points and six rebounds.
Greg DeSantis (Trumbull, Conn.) led Southern New Hampshire with 16 points, knocking down four three-pointers, while also recording six rebounds and four assists.
Cory Vejraska (Alachua, Fla.) recorded a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, while
Marcus Matthews (Valley Stream, N.Y.) chipped in with 10 points.
SNHU trailed by as many as nine points in the second half and found itself down 58-52 with 2:07 left following a basket by Williams. The Penmen would cut the lead in half on their next possession as Matthews knocked down a three, but a layup by Honore with 1:27 on the clock made it a 60-55 contest.
The Penmen made it 60-58 with 27 seconds to play when DeSantis knocked down a 25-footer. Southern New Hampshire fouled Antonio Bivins, who missed the front end of the 1-and-1.
Tory Stapleton (Rahway, N.J.) collected the rebound for Southern New Hampshire, and with no timeouts, the Penmen rushed down the court. SNHU would get one final look as it got the ball under its basket following an out-of-bounds. Matthews would attempt a three from the left corner as time expired that went in and out.
SNHU took its first lead since early in the game with 13:06 to play on a layup by DeSantis, but the lead was short-lived as Diaz answered with a three for the River Hawks. UMass Lowell opened up a nine-point lead with just over seven minutes to play following a dunk by Honore.
UMass Lowell opened up what had been a tight opening 10 minutes with a 7-0 run capped by a Honore basket with 7:55 remaining to make it 24-16. The Penmen would use a late 5-0 spurt to pull within three, 30-27, with 1:53 left on a DeSantis basket, and trailed 31-27 at halftime.
Southern New Hampshire outrebounded UMass Lowell 48-36, but were haunted by 25 turnovers that turned into 24 River Hawk points. The Penmen also were just 10-18 at the free throw line.
Southern New Hampshire returns to action Sunday when it hosts NE-10 preseason favorite Bentley University in a 3:30 contest at the SNHU Fieldhouse.
