STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• Grant Jr. – career-high 22 points (6-10 FG, 10-15 FT), 7 rebounds
• Graduate student Matt Becht (Vienna, Va.) – 20 points (5-10 FG, 3-6 3-FG, 7-7 FT), 3 rebounds, 2 assists
• Junior Kurtis Henderson (Brockton, Mass.) – 11 points (2-6 FG, 1-3 3-FG, 6-6 FT), 4 rebounds, 4 assists

KEY MOMENTS

• Pace, which led wire-to-wire, scored the first five points of the game and ended the opening half on an 11-3 run that sent it to the locker room with a 42-30 advantage. 
• The lead would grow as large as 14 at 56-42 with 13:22 remaining before Southern New Hampshire rattled off a 16-4 run, which slashed its deficit to 60-58 with 8:43 to go. Junior Paul Greene (Freeport, Bahamas) scored all seven of his points during the stretch to lead the way, offensively.
• It was a three-point game when Pace drained a pair of free throws to make it 80-75 with 25 seconds on the clock. A Penmen turnover with 16 ticks to go all but sealed it, though a missed free throw by the Setters a second later left the door slightly ajar. Time, however, would run out on the visitors.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Senior Preston Santos (Providence, R.I.) notched eight points (3-8 FG, 2-6 3-FG) and three rebounds.
• Greene posted seven points (3-3 FG, 1-1 3-FG) and three rebounds.
• Graduate student Alex Rivera (Lowell, Mass.) recorded six points (2-7 FG, 2-5 3-FG) and four rebounds.
• Pace outshot Southern New Hampshire, 50.9 percent (27-53) to 45.8 percent (22-48), including 50 percent (13-26) to 34.6 percent (9-26) from downtown.
• SNHU was plus-10 from the stripe and shot it better, 82.8 percent (24-29) to 60.9 percent (14-23).
• The Penmen won the paint (24-22), while the Setters captured the glass (32-28), scored more points off mistakes (20-7), second chance points (10-7) and on the fast break (6-5), in addition to posting a better assist-to-turnover ratio (11/12-13/9). Bench scoring was even (17-17).

NOTES

• Southern New Hampshire, which is receiving votes in the latest National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Coaches Poll, had won eight of its last nine, including four straight, before dropping back-to-back contests for the first time since it lost three-in-a-row Dec. 3-10, 2022. The 8-4 start is still the best for the program since it began the 2019-20 campaign 8-4.
• SNHU, which leads the all-time series, 21-14, has won 12 of the last 16 meetings, though the teams have split the last eight gatherings. Pace extends its home winning streak against the Penmen to four games. The Setters have not lost on their home court in the series since Jan. 19, 2019 (80-76).
• Becht scored the 1,000th point of his career, which includes nine points he scored while a member of the men's basketball team at Division I Mt. St. Mary's University. Becht now sits at 1,010 points, including 1,001 at SNHU.
• Grant Jr., who entered the season averaging 4.5 points over 51 career games, has scored nine or more points in eight straight contests and is averaging 12.6 ppg during the stretch. He has only scored less than eight points in one game this season.
• After scoring 10 total points through the first three games of the year, Santos is averaging 10.0 ppg over his last six and has scored in double figures three times.

WHAT'S NEXT

• The Penmen are back in action Wednesday, Jan. 10 (7:30 p.m.) when they play host to American International College at the Stan Spirou Field House in a contest that will air on WGIR 610-AM and Fox Sports 930-AM.