BOX
SCORE
ALBANY, N.Y. - Tory Stapleton (Rahway, N.J.)
poured in a career-high 25 points and grabbed nine rebounds to lead
11th-seeded Southern New Hampshire University past No. 6
seed The College of Saint Rose 84-77 in the first round of the 2010
Northeast-10 Men's Basketball Championship at Nolan Gym Saturday
afternoon. The Penmen improve to 15-13 overall and advance to
face third-seeded Merrimack Monday night at 7:00, while the Golden
Knights see their season come to a close at 16-12.
The win marks career win No. 499
for 25-year SNHU head coach Stan Spirou. With a win Monday he
would become the 12th active Division II coach and
36th in Division II history to reach the 500-win
mark. Spirou would also become the sixth men's basketball
coach in New England to reach 500 wins.
Stapleton finished 9-12 from the
floor and made all seven of his free throw attempts. He was
one of four Penmen to finish in double figures.
Hanell Velez (Woburn, Mass.) matched a career high
with 14 points, while Josh Morgan-Green (Upper
Marlboro, Md.) was 2-4 behind the arc and also finished with 14
points and four assists. Lucas Croteau
(Rochester, N.H.) was 3-5 behind the arc and reached double figures
for the second straight game with a season-best 13 points.
Cory Vejraska (Alachua, Fla.) chipped in with nine
points, while Stephen Wood (South Jamaica Queens,
N.Y.) recorded six points, six rebounds and four assists.
Jermaine Clark was 4-9 behind the
arc and led Saint Rose with 19 points, while Shea Bromirski
finished with 17 points. NE-10 Freshman of the Year Andre
Pope was 4-7 behind the arc and added 16 points for the Golden
Knights, who were eliminated from the NE-10 Tournament by the
Penmen for the second straight year.
Southern New Hampshire trailed
38-31 at halftime and 43-31 1:32 into the second half. The
Penmen got back into the game with a 15-7 spurt capped by a
Vejraska three at the 12:49 mark that got the guests within two,
54-52. SNHU took its first lead of the second half, 63-62, on
a three-pointer by Wood with 7:25 left, but Pope would respond with
a three at the other end to give Saint Rose a 65-63 lead.
Velez would score on the next
Penmen possession, and after an empty Saint Rose trip, Stapleton
would convert a layup with 5:13 to go to give Southern New
Hampshire a 67-65 lead. The Golden Knights would tie the game
twice, but a pair of Stapleton free throws gave SNHU a 72-70 lead
with 2:18 left, a lead which it would not relinquish.
SNHU built a 76-70 lead with just
under 1:30 remaining and would seal the victory by going 8-12 at
the free throw line the rest of the way. Saint Rose would get
within four twice, the last on a Sheldon Griffin three-point play
with 15 seconds left, but would get no closer.
Stapleton would score 10 of SNHU's
12 first points as the game was tied 12-12 six minutes in.
The Penmen would open an 18-14 lead on a Morgan-Green three with
12:50 to go in the first half, but Saint Rose would go on a 10-0
run and a Clark three made it 24-18 with 8:53 left before
halftime. The Golden Knights took their largest lead of the
first half, 32-22, 5:21 before the break on a Bromirski layup and
led 38-31 at halftime.
Southern New Hampshire shot 17-29
(58.6%) from the floor over the final 20 minutes and was 5-12
behind the arc in the second half while committing just four of its
13 turnovers after halftime. The Penmen forced 19 Saint Rose
turnovers and went to the free throw line 11 more times, going
19-28 while the Golden Knights were 16-17 at the charity stripe.
SNHU dropped both of its meetings
with Merrimack during the regular season, falling to the Warriors
101-92 in Manchester in December and 75-58 in North Andover, Mass.
last Wednesday.
