MANCHESTER, N.H. – Rob Gutierrez finished with 27 points to lead The College of Saint Rose to a 72-66 Northeast-10 men's basketball victory over Southern New Hampshire University at the SNHU Fieldhouse on Thursday. The Golden Knights improve to 11-4 overall and 6-4 in the NE-10 with the victory, while the Penmen drop to 5-9 and 1-9 in the league.
Gutierrez knocked down three three-pointers and finished 11-23 from the floor. Brian Hanuschak totaled 11 points and 10 rebounds for the Golden Knights, while Dominykas Milka and Andre Pope finished with nine points apiece.
Greg DeSantis (Trumbull, Conn.) led Southern New Hampshire with 18 points and four assists, knocking down four of his seven three-point attempts and finishing 7-10 overall. Tory Stapleton (Rahway, N.J.) registered 16 points and 13 rebounds, while C.J. Marriro (Boston, Mass.) totaled 11 points, five rebounds and four assists.
Saint Rose led 63-52 with five minutes to go after a Gutierrez basket. The Golden Knights held a 68-60 lead when DeSantis and Stapleton converted back-to-back layups to pull within four, 68-64, with 1:35 left. Saint Rose would turn the ball over on its next possession and Marcus Matthews (Valley Stream, N.Y.) would be fouled with 1:27 left. He made 1-of-2 to make it a 68-65 game.
Pope would be fouled with 1:07 left and made a pair to give Saint Rose a 70-65 lead. On the other end, Stapleton would be fouled on a putback attempt with 53 seconds to play and made 1-of-2 to make it 70-66. Saint Rose controlled the rebound on the missed second shot and Pope would get fouled with 23 seconds to go and make two at the line. The Penmen came up empty on the other end as the Golden Knights held on for the win.
SNHU scored the first two baskets of the second half to take a 36-34 lead on a Marriro layup 37 seconds into the frame. Saint Rose led 42-39 when it used a 9-3 run to build a 51-42 advantage with 12 minutes to go on a Milka layup. The Penmen would pull within five, 53-48, on a basket by Billy Marsden (Pelham, N.H.) with 10:28 left, but Saint Rose held the hosts without a field goal for the next four minutes, building a 59-48 lead.
Saint Rose jumped out to a 13-4 lead six minutes into the game following a basket by Gutierrez, but the Penmen would use an 8-0 run to make it 13-12 at the 11:37 mark following a conventional three-point play by Marriro. Gutierrez would make a three with just over five minutes to play, but the Penmen would tie the game 26-26 with 3:08 left when Cory Vejraska (Alachua, Fla.) made 1-of-2 at the line. The Penmen took their first lead, 29-28, with 2:07 left on a Vejraska three, but Gutierrez would hit a three 43 seconds before halftime to give the Golden Knights a 34-32 halftime lead.
Saint Rose, which outrebounded the Penmen 39-34, held Southern New Hampshire to just 32.4% shooting in the first half and 38.3% for the game while it shot 44.2%. The Golden Knights were 22-26 at the free throw line while SNHU shot just 15-23 at the stripe.
Southern New Hampshire travels to Le Moyne College on Saturday for a 3:00 contest.
