VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS 

MANCHESTER, N.H. – Freshman Rodney Sanders (Linden, N.J.) led five Southern New Hampshire University players in double figures with a career-best 22 points as the sixth-seeded Penmen posted a wire-to-wire 81-62 victory over No. 10 seed The College of Saint Rose in the semifinals of the Northeast-10 Men's Basketball Championship Wednesday night at the SNHU Fieldhouse.  The Penmen, who are ranked No. 8 in the East Region, won their fifth in a row to improve to 18-10 overall, while the Golden Knights see their season come to a close at 15-14.

Sanders, who scored 15 of his 22 points in the second half, finished 9-12 from the floor and 4-6 behind the arc while also registering eight rebounds and four assists.  Elijah Bonsignore (Felton, Del.) totaled 14 points on 6-9 shooting off the bench while also notching four blocked shots and three steals, while Aleksandar Dobrovic (Podgorica, Montenegro) canned a pair of three-pointers and tallied 12 points.  CJ Marriro (Boston, Mass.) narrowly missed a double-double with 11 points and nine rebounds, while BJ Cardarelli (Manchester, Conn.) knocked down three threes and added 11 points as well.

Dominykas Milka led all scorers with 24 points for Saint Rose, going 9-17 from the floor.  Tyler Sayre was the only other Golden Knight to finish in double figures, as he recorded 12 points.

Southern New Hampshire led 40-35 at halftime and scored the first seven points of the second half to open up a 47-35 lead with 18:12 remaining.  The Golden Knights answered with a 9-0 spurt and pulled within three, 47-44, with 14:20 left on a Milka basket. 

The hosts opened the game up with a 13-1 run capped by a Marriro layup with 10:03 remaining that gave the Penmen a 65-48 lead.  Saint Rose scored the next five points to cut the lead to 12 on an Andre Pope three-pointer with 8:35 to go, but the Golden Knights could get no closer.  Southern New Hampshire took its largest lead, 79-58, with 1:44 left on a Marriro basket that capped an 8-1 run.

SNHU scored 12 of the game's first 16 points with a three at the 16:20 mark by Mike Stys (Hooksett, N.H.) giving the Penmen an early 12-4 advantage.  The lead swelled to 15, 21-6, on a basket by Kostas Mantalvanos (Athens, Greece) with 13:26 on the clock.  Southern New Hampshire led 33-21 with just under eight minutes to go in the first half when Saint Rose used a 14-3 run capped by a Dan Mundweiler trifecta to pull within one, 36-35, with 1:27 left before intermission.  The hosts scored the final four points of the first half to take a 40-35 lead into the locker room.

Southern New Hampshire shot 59.3% in the second half and 53.3% for the game, the fourth time in five games the Penmen have shot 50% or better from the floor.  The Penmen connected on 11 of their 25 three-point attempts, including 6-11 over the final 20 minutes, and limited Saint Rose to 30.8% shooting in the second half and 37.9% for the game.  The Golden Knights did make five of their 12 three-point attempts and took 11 more trips to the free throw line, going 13-19 while SNHU was 6-8 at the stripe.  The Penmen outrebounded the guests 36-27. 

Southern New Hampshire is making its third Northeast-10 final appearance and its first since 2004.  The Penmen, who dropped both meetings with Franklin Pierce in the regular season, are seeking their first NE-10 title.  The Ravens are making their first-ever title game appearance.