MANCHESTER, N.H. – Lucas Croteau (Rochester, N.H.) registered a career-high 18 points and hauled down 10 rebounds as Southern New Hampshire University completed a season sweep of Southern Connecticut State University with an 82-60 Northeast-10 men's basketball victory Saturday afternoon. The Penmen improved to 7-10 overall and 3-10 in the NE-10, while the Owls are 9-8 and 6-7 in the league.
Croteau finished 4-8 behind the arc and recorded his second straight double-double. He was one of four players in double figures for SNHU. Tory Stapleton (Rahway, N.J.) went 6-7 from the floor and totaled 15 points. Stapleton is now 28 points away from 1,000 for his career. Corey Boland (Union, N.J.) scored a career-high 12 points while also grabbing five rebounds, while Nikola Canic (Belgrade, Serbia) added 10 points. C.J. Marriro (Boston, Mass.) finished with nine points and six rebounds.
Trevon Hamlet was the lone Southern Connecticut player in double figures, as he totaled 18 points and eight rebounds. Greg Langston and Kieran Ramsey finished with eight points apiece.
Southern New Hampshire trailed just once and opened up a 16-8 lead five minutes into the game following a basket by Stapleton. The Penmen would gradually pull away and used a 12-0 run capped by a pair of Croteau free throws to make it 42-22 with just over three minutes to go before halftime. Southern New Hampshire led 45-27 when Langston hit a running three at the buzzer to make it 45-30 at the break.
The hosts maintained at least a 16-point cushion the entire second half, and took their largest lead, 80-54, on a layup by Billy Marsden (Pelham, N.H.) with just over a minute to play.
Southern New Hampshire shot 50% in the first half and 48.3% for the game while holding SCSU to just 39.3%, including a 4-21 effort (21.1% from behind the arc. The Penmen were 9-24 from long-range. SNHU took eight more trips to the free throw line and were 17-29, while the Owls shot just 12-21 from the charity stripe. The hosts also held a 43-33 rebounding advantage
Southern New Hampshire travels to the University of New Haven on Tuesday night for a 7:30 Northeast-10 Conference contest.
