MANCHESTER, N.H. – Tory Stapleton (Rahway, N.J.) totaled 19 points and six rebounds to lead Southern New Hampshire University to an 83-71 non-conference men's basketball victory over Molloy College Saturday night at the SNHU Fieldhouse.  The Penmen improved to 2-0 on the season, while the Lions are now 0-2.

Stapleton, who finished 8-14 from the floor, paced three Penmen in double figures.  Freshman Elijah Bonsignore (Felton, Del.) finished with 16 points on 6-8 shooting while also grabbing nine rebounds, while Greg DeSantis (Trumbull, Conn.) knocked down five of his 10 three-point attempts and finished with 15 points and four assists.  Aleksandar Dobrovic (Podgorica, Montenegro) added nine points and seven assists.

Jimmy Nolan led all scorers with 20 points for Molloy as he went 5-9 behind the arc.  Dariel Concha added 17 points on 8-11 shooting, while Chris Lyons added 10 points.

Molloy, which trailed by a dozen (44-32) at the break, pulled within five, 51-46, 4:21 into the second half on a pair of Lyons free throws.  Southern New Hampshire used a 10-4 spurt capped by a DeSantis three at the 13:25 mark to make it a 61-50 ballgame.  The Lions countered with an 11-6 run and a three by Lyons with 9:30 to go made it 67-61.

The hosts took control of the game by scoring 11 unanswered points, and a three by Lucas Croteau (Rochester, N.H.) with 4:49 to play made it 78-61.  Molloy would get within nine with just under a minute to go but could get no closer.

The Lions built a 13-7 lead five minutes into the game, but Southern New Hampshire reeled off a 14-0 run and a pair of Bonsignore free throws with 11:34 left before halftime gave the Penmen a 21-13 lead.  SNHU took its largest lead of the first half, 42-27, with just over two minutes to play on a pair of Max Taylor (Shokan, N.Y.) free throws and took a 44-32 lead into the locker room.

Southern New Hampshire outrebounded Molloy 33-29 including a 16-7 edge on the offensive glass that led to a 20-10 advantage in second-chance points.  Molloy shot 54.3% for the game and 46.7% (7-15) behind the arc, but 21 turnovers led to 26 Penmen points, as the hosts committed just 11 giveaways.  The Penmen were 16-17 at the free-throw line and shot 43.1% for the game.

SNHU returns to action Wednesday night when it hosts Saint Michael's College in its Northeast-10 opener at 7:30 pm.