SNHU (12-12, 8-11 Northeast-10)
vs.
Stonehill (15-8, 12-7 Northeast-10)
Tuesday, February 14, 2012 - 7:30 pm
SNHU Fieldhouse - Manchester, N.H.
COMPLETE GAME NOTES (PDF)
THE MATCHUP: Southern New Hampshire hosts its final home game of the regular season Tuesday night when it entertains Stonehill for Senior Night.
THE COACHES: Stan Spirou is in his 27th season as head coach at Southern New Hampshire...he owns a 522-276 (.654) career record in 26-plus seasons at the helm...Spirou was honored as the New England Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year four times (1993, 94, 95, 99) and has led the Penmen to 14 NCAA Tournaments, four NCAA Regional titles and fourteen 20 win seasons...David McLaughlin is in his ninth season at Stonehill...he owns a 168-83 (.669) career record and has guided the Skyhawks to the Division II semifinals in 2006 and to three straight NCAA Tournament appearances from 2009-11.
THE SERIES:Stonehill owns a 23-21 lead in the all-time series with SNHU and has captured 12 of the last 13 meetings, including sweeping the season series in 2010-11...the last Penmen victory came in the 2008-09 season...earlier this season the Skyhawks posted a 70-58 win in Easton, Mass....Stonehill led 35-24 at halftime, but the Penmen got as close as five in the second half...Patrick Lee led the Skyhawks with 21 points, while Brian Hamor finished with 12 points and Andre Tongo 11...Elijah Bonsignore led the Penmen with 14 points, while Greg DeSantis was 5-8 from the floor and added 13 points.
THE PENMEN: Southern New Hampshire snapped a four-game slide with a 76-66 win over Bentley Saturday...it was the first win over the Falcons since the 2008-09 season...Tory Stapleton leads the Penmen in scoring with his 11.2 ppg average, while also grabbing a team-best 6.7 rebounds per game...freshman Elijah Bonsignore is averaging 10.8 ppg and shooting 50.2% from the floor...he also has a team-best 47 blocked shots, including six earlier this season against Southern Connecticut...Aleksandar Dobrovic is recording 10.8 points and 5.0 rebounds per game while leading the team in assists with 58...Dobrovic had 25 points in the Bentley win and was named Northeast-10 Rookie of the Week on Monday...B.J. Cardarelli has knocked down a team-high 32 three-pointers and is averaging 10.3points and four rebounds per game, while Greg DeSantis is adding 7.9 points per contest...the Penmen are shooting .438 overall, .345 behind the arc and .694 at the free throw line while allowing opponents to shoot .449 overall and .375 behind the arc...the Penmen are scoring 68.7 points per game while allowing 68.8 and are outrebounding teams 35.0-34.4.
THE SKYHAWKS: Stonehill is coming off a 66-64 setback to Saint Michael's on Saturday afternoon...Brian Hamor leads the Skyhawks with his 13.7 ppg average while also dishing out 3.2 assists per game...Andre Tongo has drained a team-best 52 three-pointers and is scoring at a 12.5 ppg clip, while Patrick Lee is grabbing a team-high 8.9 rebounds per game to go along with his 11.5 ppg average...Lee is shooting 50% from the field...Adam Fazzini has connected on 50 of his 106 three-point attempts (47.2%) and is adding nine points per game...the Skyhawks are shooting .398 overall, .373 from three-point land and .680 at the free throw line while allowing opponents to shoot .400 overall and .331 behind the arc...Stonehill is outscoring opponents 65.9-58.4 while outrebounding foes 38.0-34.8.
WHAT'S NEXT: SNHU closes out the regular season on the road at Merrimack Saturday and at Saint Michael's next Tuesday...the Penmen are still in the hunt for a berth to the 10-team Northeast-10 Tournament that kicks off February 24 with a pair of first-round contests.
