MANCHESTER, N.H. – Tory Stapleton (Rahway, N.J.) totaled 20 points, including the 1,000th of his career, as Southern New Hampshire University upended crosstown rival Saint Anselm College 65-54 in Northeast-10 men's basketball Thursday night at the SNHU Fieldhouse. The Penmen, who have won three of their last four, improved to 9-11 and 5-11 in the NE-10, while the Hawks, who are ranked No. 2 in the East Region and are receiving votes in the NABC Division II national poll, fell to 15-5 and 11-5 in the league.
Stapleton, who needed just one point for 1,000 entering the contest, scored his 1,000th career point with 12:40 to go in the first half. He finished 6-11 from the floor and 8-10 from the free throw line to lead four Penmen players in double figures. Cory Vejraska (Alachua, Fla.) registered 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Greg DeSantis (Trumbull, Conn.) finished with 14 points. Lucas Croteau (Rochester, N.H.) added 11 points for the Penmen.
Jack Keough led Saint Anselm with 16 points and nine rebounds, going 7-14 from the floor but just 2-6 at the free throw line. Allen Harris added 15 points and nine boards, while Thomas Baudinet, the Northeast-10's leading scorer entering the contest, was held to a season-low 11 points, nearly 13 below his season average of 23.6. Baudinet was 4-18 from the floor, including 1-9 behind the arc.
SNHU led 32-20 at halftime and extended its lead to 40-25 early in the second half before the Hawks went on a 16-5 run and a layup by Keough with 11:38 to go made it a 45-41 game. The Penmen scored the game's next four points and went up 49-41 following a Croteau free throw with just over 10 minutes to play.
Saint Anselm would cut the lead to five down the stretch, the last time coming on a Harris layup with 4:29 left that made it 53-48. SNHU would gradually pull away and sealed the victory by going 10-12 at the free throw line over the final three minutes.
Southern New Hampshire never trailed and opened a 6-0 lead 1:30 into the game on back-to-back threes by DeSantis. The Penmen opened up a 22-15 lead on a three by Croteau with just under eight minutes to go and used an 8-0 run capped by a Vejraska layup with 2:23 left that made it 30-16. SNHU led 32-20 at halftime.
The Penmen outrebounded the Hawks 42-38 and held the Hawks to just 38.3% shooting for the contest, including just 1-17 behind the arc. Southern New Hampshire shot 38.9%, but went 17-25 at the free throw line while Saint Anselm was just 7-13 at the stripe.
SNHU returns to action Saturday when it hosts Franklin Pierce University in a 3:30 contest at the SNHU Fieldhouse.
