BOX SCORE

When and Where: February 13, 2016 – No. Andover, Mass. (Hammel Court)
Score: Southern New Hampshire University 89, Merrimack College 75
Records: SNHU 16-9 (12-6 Northeast-10), Merrimack 13-11 (8-10 Northeast-10),

Senior Rodney Sanders (Elizabeth, N.J.) scored a game-high 23 points to lead five scorers in double figures as the Southern New Hampshire University men's basketball team shot its way past Merrimack College, 89-75, Saturday afternoon at Hammel Court.

Sanders was 7-for-13 from the field, including 4-for-8 from beyond the arc, and 5-for-6 at the line, to go with six assists, four rebounds and three steals. Fellow senior BJ Cardarelli (Manchester, Conn.) contributed 17 points (5-12 FG, 1-4 3-FG, 6-6 FT), four rebounds and three assists.  Junior Devin Gilligan (Amherst, N.H.) sank a career-best four 3-pointers as he notched his fourth double-double of the season with 14 points (5-8 FG, 4-5 3-FG), 10 rebounds and three assists, while classmate Chris Walters (Stamford, Conn.) also netted 14 points (3-6 FG, 8-9 FT) and collected seven boards. Freshman Charlie Russo (Syracuse, N.Y.) connected on a career-high four triples en route to a career-best 12 points (4-7 FG, 4-6 3-FG).

Troy Hammel paced Merrimack with 18 points, while Gelvis Solano added 17.

Southern New Hampshire would set the tone early, with back-to-back 3-pointers from Sanders and Gilligan pushing the Penmen out to a 6-0 lead in the first 41 seconds of the contest. Merrimack had sliced its deficit to one at the 16:42 mark before a 17-2 burst – with six points from Gilligan, five from Sanders and four from Walters – ballooning the SNHU advantage to 28-12 with 11:52 remaining in the opening half.

The Penmen held their largest lead of the half at 35-17 nearly three minutes later when Merrimack responded with a 14-3 surge – highlighted by a pair of Kyle Howes treys – to slash its deficit to 38-31 with just under six minutes to go before the break. Southern New Hampshire hit back with an 11-2 counter-run that featured 3s from Gilligan, junior Adrian Oliveira (Pawtucket, R.I.) and Sanders and ran the lead to 16 at 49-33 with less than four minutes left. The Penmen would bring a 55-41 advantage to the locker room.

Neither team scored for almost two-and-a-half minutes to open the second half until Sanders knocked down a jumper to reinstate the 16-point lead. Merrimack would whittle it down to 12 before five points from Cardarelli powered a 7-0 run that put SNHU in front, 66-47, at the 13:33 mark.

The margin was 17 nearly five minutes later when 3-pointers from Russo bookended an 8-0 run that gave Southern New Hampshire its largest lead of the afternoon at 85-60 with 7:36 left. The Warriors would then close the game on a 15-4 to bring the score to its final resting place.

Oliveira finished with seven points (3-7 FG, 1-3 3-FG), three assists and two steals.

Notes:
-The win clinches Southern New Hampshire a berth in the Northeast-10 Championship by virtue of its four-game lead over Merrimack, the current sixth-place team in the Northeast Division, with just three games remaining. The Penmen currently sit in fourth place - just two games out of the top spot with the Nos. 2, 3 and 5 teams remaining on the schedule.
-SNHU has now won six of its last seven games.
-Southern New Hampshire outshot Merrimack, 45.2 percent (28-62) to 41.5 percent (27-65), including a sizzling 48.3 percent (14-29) to 25 percent (5-20) from long distance.
-Merrimack owned both the glass (45-32) and the paint (34-16), but the Penmen held a 22-10 margin in points off turnovers on the strength of a much better assist-to-turnover ratio (19/11 – 7/18).

Up Next:
The Penmen return to the hardwood Wednesday, Feb. 17 (7:30 p.m.) when they play host to Franklin Pierce University (14-9, 11-7 NE-10) at the Fieldhouse. Tickets can be purchased HERE or at the box office on the day of the game.

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