VIDEO HIGHLIGHTS

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - A stifling Southern New Hampshire defense held Southern Connecticut State University 32 points below its season average as the second-seeded Penmen captured the seventh regional title in program history with a 75-58 win over the fifth-seeded Owls in Tuesday's NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship East Region final at Butova Gymnasium.  The Penmen (24-7) advance to next week's Elite Eight, their first appearance since 1995, while the Owls, the defending regional champions, see their season come to a close at 24-8.

Southern New Hampshire captured its seventh NCAA regional title Tuesday night, and the first since the Penmen won three straight regional crowns from 1993-95.  The Penmen also won regional titles in 1979, 1980 and 1987.

The Penmen advance to the Elite Eight where they will face Florida Southern, the nation's No. 1 ranked team, on Wednesday, March 25 at 7:00 (EDT).  The Mocs defeated Lynn 88-80 on Tuesday evening. 

Junior BJ Cardarelli (Manchester, Conn.) (right) was named Most Outstanding Player of the East

Regional and finished with 12 points Tuesday night.  He averaged 12.7 ppg in three regional games and went 9-16 from three-point land.  Senior Aleksandar Dobrovic (Podgorica, Montenegro) was named to the All-Tournament Team.

Senior Elijah Bonsignore (Felton, Del.) and junior Rodney Sanders (Linden, N.J.) led Southern New Hampshire with 13 points apiece, with Sanders also grabbing 10 rebounds.  Phillip Tripodakis (Athens, Greece) and Cardarelli each had 12 points, with Cardarelli going 3-5 behind the arc.  For Tripodakis, the 12 points marked a season high.  Devin Gilligan (Amherst, N.H.) added 11 points and nine rebounds off the bench.

Tylon Smith led Southern Connecticut with 17 points, leading four Owls in double figures.  Luke Houston and Michael Mallory had 13 points apiece, while Desmond Williams added 10 points.

Southern New Hampshire led 33-29 at halftime and took a 40-34 lead with 16:11 left on a three by Cardarelli, but five straight points by the Owls, including a conventional three-point play by Smith at the 13:29 mark, pulled SCSU within one, 40-39.  The Penmen clung to a 49-45 lead following a Houston basket at the 9:57 mark, but scored eight straight points to take a 57-45 lead with just under five minutes to go following a Bonsignore basket.

Mallory broke the Southern Connecticut drought with a conventional three-point play with 4:38 left to make it 57-48.  The Owls cut the lead to nine one more time, on a pair of free throws by Houston with 3:43 left, but got no closer.  Southern New Hampshire closed the game on a 16-8 run and went 10-14 from the free throw line in the final two minutes to secure the victory.

Southern Connecticut scored the game's first five points and held a 12-7 lead when back-to-back threes by Cardarelli and Tripodakis gave SNHU its first lead of the game, 13-12, with 12:21 to go in the first half.  A Mallory three gave the Owls a 17-16 lead with 9:12 remaining, but a Gilligan trifecta with 8:11 to go gave the Penmen the lead for good.  Southern New Hampshire extended the lead to eight, 27-19, on a free throw by Dobrovic with 3:43 left, but SCSU was able to whittle the lead down to four, 33-29, at intermission.

Southern Connecticut, which entered the game with the nation's fourth-most prolific offense (90.0 ppg) was held to a season-low 58 points as the Owls shot just 31.1% for the contest, including a 4-24 effort from three-point land.  Southern New Hampshire shot just 35%, but was 7-22 from long range and took 13 more trips to the free throw line, going 26-34 (76.5%) while the Owls were 16-21 at the line.  The Penmen also held a 50-38 rebounding advantage, including a 15-10 edge on the offensive glass that led to a 12-3 lead in second chance points on the evening.

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