PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Rodney Sanders (Linden, N.J.) totaled 22 points as Southern New Hampshire University shut down Pace University for a 65-50 Northeast-10 men's basketball victory Tuesday night at the Goldstein Center.  The Penmen improve to 9-5 and 8-3 in the NE-10, while the Setters are now 5-11 and 1-8 in the league.

Sanders finished 5-10 from the floor, including 3-4 behind the arc, and 9-10 from the free throw line to lead three players in double figures.  Sanders, who also grabbed eight rebounds, now sits seven points shy of 1,000 for his career.  B.J. Cardarelli (Manchester, Conn.) went 4-6 behind the arc and totaled 18 points, while Elijah Bonsignore (Felton, Del.) added 13 points, eight rebounds and five blocked shots.

Kyle Pearson led Pace with 15 points, while Shelton Mickell added 12.

Leading 29-24 at halftime, Southern New Hampshire opened the second half on a 13-0 run to build a 42-24 lead following an Aleksandar Dobrovic (Podgorica, Montenegro) basket with 14:59 to go.  The Penmen took their largest lead, 51-32, on a Max Taylor (Shokan, N.Y.) three with just over 11 minutes left.  Pace used a 14-3 run to pull within eight, 54-46, with 6:33 to go, but 11 straight Penmen points pushed the lead back to 19 with 1:16 left on a Sanders three.

The two teams traded the lead five times in the first half before the Penmen took the lead for good, 15-14, with 10:29 to go on a pair of Bonsignore free throws.  A Sanders three with 5:23 to go gave Southern New Hampshire its largest lead of the first half, 22-15, and the hosts led 29-24 at intermission.

Southern New Hampshire, which held a 41-30 rebounding advantage, held Pace to 29.5% shooting for the game while shooting 43.5% from the floor, including a 9-18 effort behind the three-point arc.  The Penmen took 11 more trips to the free throw line, going 16-22 while the Setters converted 9-of-11 at the charity stripe.

SNHU returns home Saturday afternoon when it hosts Concordia (N.Y.) College in a 3:30 non-conference contest at the SNHU Fieldhouse.

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