MANCHESTER, N.H. – BJ Cardarelli (Manchester, Conn.) finished with 21 points to lead Southern New Hampshire University to an 81-73 Northeast-10 men's basketball victory over Le Moyne College at the SNHU Fieldhouse Tuesday evening.  The Penmen won their third in a row to improve to 8-5 overall and 4-4 in the NE-10, while the Dolphins, who saw a three-game win streak snapped, are now 6-6 and 2-6 in the league.

Cardarelli, who totaled 13 of his points in the first half, was 8-14 from the floor and knocked down three three-pointers on the night.  Greg DeSantis (Trumbull, Conn.) and Tory Stapleton (Rahway, N.J.) each had 16 points off the bench.  DeSantis knocked down four of his nine three-point attempts, while Stapleton was 6-10 from the floor and also grabbed seven rebounds.  Elijah Bonsignore (Felton, Del.) had eight points while Aleksandar Dobrovic (Podgorica, Montenegro) had five points, six assists, and six rebounds.

Brian Zapisek led Le Moyne with 16 points, while Nate Champion, Gamal Mohammed, and Jim Janson each finished with 10 points apiece.

Southern New Hampshire led by as many as 16 points in the second half and led 70-56 with 6:22 remaining when the guests used an 11-2 run to pull within five, 72-67, with 2:43 to play on a pair of free throws by Derrek Tartt.  Le Moyne would cut the lead to five two more times down the stretch, the last on a Ryan Romich basket with 51 seconds left.  On SNHU's next possession, Stapleton converted a conventional three-point play to make it 79-71 with 43 seconds left and seal the victory.

The Penmen led 43-36 at halftime and outscored the Dolphins 9-2 over the first 3:26 of the second half to build a 52038 lead on a Dobrovic basket.   Southern New Hampshire used another 9-2 spurt to take its largest lead, 65-49, with 10:42 on the clock following a three-pointer by Marcus Matthews (Valley Stream, N.Y.).

In a first half that saw nine ties and six lead changes, Southern New Hampshire took control by closing the frame on a 7-0 run, as a DeSantis three 1:03 before intermission made it 43-36, which would be the halftime score.  The Penmen had led 36-30 with 2:56 to go, but back-to-back Le Moyne threes by Zapisek and Chris Johnson 21 seconds apart tied the game for the ninth and final time.

Southern New Hampshire shot 56.7% in the first half and 49.2% for the contest while Le Moyne was 14-27 (51.9%) in the first half and 45.3% for the game.  The Dolphins were 7-13 behind the arc in the first half but just 3-12 over the final 20 minutes.  The Penmen, who outrebounded Le Moyne 38-31, matched a season-high by knocking down 11 three-pointers. 

SNHU returns to action on Saturday afternoon when it travels to Assumption College for a 3:30 Northeast-10 contest.