MANCHESTER, N.H. – Junior Rodney Sanders (Linden, N.J.) finished with a career-high 28 points as Southern New Hampshire University held off a late Assumption College rally for a 77-69 Northeast-10 men's basketball victory Wednesday night at the SNHU Fieldhouse.  The Penmen, who are ranked No. 8 in this week's D2SIDA East Region media poll, won their third straight to improve to 6-2 and 5-1 in the NE-10, while the Greyhounds are now 4-5 and 2-4 in the league.

Sanders finished 9-16 from the floor, including 4-6 behind the arc, and knocked down all six of his free throw attempts.  He also grabbed four rebounds.  Elijah Bonsignore (Felton, Del.) added 19 points on 7-12 shooting while blocking a career-best eight shots as the Penmen totaled 11 swats on the evening.  Devin Gilligan (Amherst, N.H.) narrowly missed his second double-double with eight points and 11 rebounds off the bench, playing just 18 minutes due to foul trouble.

Kamali Bey led Assumption with 25 points and 13 rebounds, while Terrance Bobb-Jones also posted a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.

Southern New Hampshire, which led 41-22 at intermission and by as many as 18 in the second half, saw its lead whittled to six, 70-64, when a pair of Karl Zeigler free throws capped an 8-2 Greyhound spurt.  That would be as close as the guests got, as SNHU sealed the win by going 7-10 at the free throw line over the final 1:13.

Assumption scored the first nine points of the second half to pull within 10 with just over 17 minutes to play, before eight straight Penmen points capped by a BJ Cardarelli (Manchester, Conn.) three with 15:56 to go made it 49-31.  SNHU led 54-36 with 14:11 left when the Greyhounds reeled off 10 straight to pull within eight, 54-46, with 11:25 left following a Jack Sullivan trifecta.  The lead hovered between seven and 12 points for several minutes until Assumption's final run.

The Penmen took control when it scored 22 unanswered points early in the first half to build a 28-9 lead with 8:39 left, holding Assumption scoreless for a just over nine minute stretch.  Southern New Hampshire took its largest lead, 41-20, on a Max Taylor (Shokan, N.Y.) three with 2:19 to go, and carried a 41-22 lead into the locker room.

The two teams went to the free throw line a combined 61 times in a game that saw 51 fouls called.  Assumption took seven more trips to the line, going 24-34, while Southern New Hampshire was 18-27 at the charity stripe.  The hosts shot 57.7% (15-26) in the first half and 48.3% for the game while holding Assumption to 30.3% shooting.  The Greyhounds did knock down five of their 10 three-point attempts, while the Penmen went 9-21 behind the arc.  The Hounds held a 45-37 rebounding advantage, including a commanding 22-9 lead on the offensive glass that led to a 15-7 advantage in second-chance points.

Southern New Hampshire returns to action Saturday afternoon when it hosts The College of Saint Rose in a 5:00 game at the SNHU Fieldhouse.  That game can be seen live on NESNplus.

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