MANCHESTER, N.H. – BJ Cardarelli (Manchester, Conn.) notched a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds as Southern New Hampshire University outlasted Merrimack College for a 71-67 Northeast-10 men's basketball victory Saturday afternoon at the SNHU Fieldhouse.  The Penmen, who are ranked No. 7 in the East Region, improve to 15-10 and 11-10 in the NE-10, while the Warriors now stand 11-15 and 8-13 in the league.

The win secures a berth in the 10-team Northeast-10 Men's Basketball Championship for the Penmen, their first since 2010.  SNHU currently sits tied for sixth in the league standings with Adelphi University and would be the tourney's No. 7 seed currently.

Cardarelli finished 4-9 behind the arc to lead three Penmen in double figures.  Aleksandar Dobrovic (Podgorica, Montenegro) was 7-9 from the floor and tallied 15 points, four rebounds and four assists, while Mike Stys (Hooksett, N.H.) was 5-6 at the free throw line and added 10 points.  Rodney Sanders (Linden, N.J.) contributed nine points.

Merrimack was led by Mike Clifford, who was 8-10 from the floor and totaled 17 points.  JT Strickland drained all three of his three-point attempts and was the only other Warrior in double figures with 16 points.

The Warriors, who trailed by as many as 17 points early in the second half, cut the lead to one, 65-64, with 2:03 left on a basket by Gelvis Solano.  Sanders pushed the lead back to three on a layup off an inbounds with 1:45 remaining and got fouled, but failed to convert the free throw.  Merrimack came up empty on its next two possessions that sandwiched a Penmen turnover, and the guests were forced to foul Sanders with 20 seconds left.

Sanders converted both ends of the one-and-one to make it 69-64.  On Merrimack's next trip, Alex Morsey converted his first basket of the season with a three with 6.5 seconds left to make it a 69-67 game.  Following a timeout, the Warriors fouled Stys, who also converted both ends of a one-and-one to seal the victory.

Southern New Hampshire led nearly the whole way and held a 17-8 lead 5:12 into the game following a Cardarelli three.  An 11-4 Merrimack run capped by a Clifford layup at the 9:40 mark cut the Penmen lead to two, 21-19.  SNHU held Merrimack scoreless for the final 4:48 of the first half and closed the half on a 10-0 run to take a 13-point advantage, 39-26, into the locker room.  After Solano scored the first basket of the second half, back-to-back threes by Stys and Cardarelli gave the hosts a 45-28 lead with 18:01 left.

SNHU shot 53.8% in the first half and 50% for the contest, their second straight game shooting 50%, while Merrimack shot 43.5% for the game.  The Penmen took seven more trips to the free throw line, going 15-19 while the Warriors were 8-12, and the hosts finished 8-20 behind the arc while Merrimack was 5-13.  Southern New Hampshire outrebounded Merrimack 34-30.

The Penmen close out the regular season Tuesday night when they hosts Saint Michael's College at 7:30 pm for Senior Night.

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