Box Score WALTHAM, Mass. – Elijah Bonsignore (Felton, Del.) led four Southern New Hampshire University players in double figures with 18 points as the Penmen claimed the Northeast-10 Northeast Division regular season championship with an 85-73 win over Bentley University in men's basketball Wednesday night at the Dana Center. SNHU, which won its fourth straight and for the 11th time in 12 games, improved to 18-6 and 15-4 in the NE-10, while the Falcons now stand 15-10 and 10-9 in the league. SNHU is ranked second in the first NCAA East Region rankings released Wednesday, while the Falcons check in ranked No. 10 in the region.
With the win, SNHU claims its first regular season title since joining the Northeast-10 prior to the 2000-01 season and its first since winning the regular season crown of the now-defunct New England Collegiate Conference in the 1998-99 season. The win also is the first for the Penmen at Bentley since 2003-04, snapping a 10-game winless streak at the Dana Center.
Bonsignore finished 6-11 from the floor and also grabbed eight rebounds. Rodney Sanders (Linden, N.J.) was 6-9 from the floor, including a 3-4 effort behind the arc, and tallied 17 points, while BJ Cardarelli (Manchester, Conn.) recorded 13 points on 5-9 shooting. Adrian Oliveira (Pawtucket, R.I.) added a career-high 12 points on 5-9 shooting. All eight players who saw action for Southern New Hampshire reached the scoring column.
Tyler McFarland had a game-high 20 points to lead Bentley, while Keegan Hyland added 18 points and nine rebounds.
Southern New Hampshire appeared in control with four minutes remaining when a Bonsignore three-pointer gave the guests a 73-58 lead, however, a Hyland three, combined with back-to-back triples by McFarland, made it a 73-67 game with 3:02 left. A JP Koury free throw at the 2:49 mark made it a 73-68 game.
Cardarelli stopped the bleeding with a conventional three-point play with 2:44 left to push the lead back to eight. Hyland knocked down a three with 1:54 left to make it 76-71, however, the Penmen went 8-10 at the free throw line over the final 1:37 to secure the victory. Bonsignore added an exclamation point with a dunk on a putback down the stretch.
SNHU never trailed, leading 34-29 at halftime and 41-39 with 16:29 left when an 8-2 spurt capped by a pair of Aleksandar Dobrovic (Podgorica, Montenegro) free throws made it 49-41 with 14:32 left. Back-to-back baskets by Oliveira with just over eight minutes left highlighted a 14-3 run that gave the Penmen a 64-49 lead.
Southern New Hampshire held Bentley to a field goal over the first seven minutes as it opened up an 11-2 lead. The guests opened up their largest lead of the first half, 26-12, on a Dobrovic basket with just under nine minutes left. SNHU led 34-24 when Bentley scored the final five points of the frame to cut the lead to five, 34-29, at intermission.
The Penmen shot 57% over the final 20 minutes and 50% for the game while going 6-10 behind the arc in the second half and 11-25 for the game. Bentley shot 40.3% overall and was 10-30 from downtown, and also took nine fewer trips to the free throw line, going 9-13 while the Penmen went 13-22 at the charity stripe. The Falcons held a 42-34 rebounding advantage.
The Penmen return home on Saturday, February 21, when SNHU welcomes Saint Michael's College for a 3:30 game that can be seen live on NESN National and NESNplus. Prior to the game, four seniors will be honored prior to their final regular season collegiate home game.
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