Men's Basketball Knocks Off River Hawks, Advances to NE-10 Semis

BOX SCORE

LOWELL, Mass. - Freshman Marcus Matthews (Valley Stream, NY) matched his career high with 21 points to lead No. 7 seed Southern New Hampshire University to a 66-60 win over second-seeded UMass Lowell in the quarterfinals of the Northeast-10 Men's Basketball Championship Tuesday night at the Costello Athletic Center.  The Penmen, who have now won six straight, improve to 18-11 and travel to face sixth-seeded Le Moyne, an 80-66 upset winner over third-seeded Stonehill in another quarterfinal, on Thursday.  UMass Lowell now stands at 21-7 and must await word on a possible at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.

Matthews was 5-7 from the floor, connecting on all three of his three-point attempts, and was also 8-11 at the free throw line.  Stephen Wood (South Jamaica Queens, NY) recorded a double-double with 10 points and 14 rebounds while also registering four assists.  Troy Bowen (Nashua, NH) and Tory Stapleton (Rahway, NJ) each finished with nine points.

Kyle Caiola led four River Hawks in double figures with 14 points, but was just 4-13 from the floor.  Craig Heatherly and Max Kerman each totaled 12 points for UMass Lowell, while Ali Kanaan added 10 points.

Southern New Hampshire clung to a one-point lead, 61-60, with a minute remaining and the River Hawks having the ball.  A three by Caiola was off the mark, and after Stapleton grabbed the rebound, Matthews would be fouled going to the basket.  He sank both free throws with 44 seconds left to make it 63-60.  UML would turn it over on its next possession and was forced to foul Stapleton, who made 1-of-2 with 31 seconds to play.  Bowen would come up with a steal on the next River Hawk trip and made a pair at the line with 21 seconds left to seal the win.

The Penmen led 32-26 at the break and scored eight unanswered points in the first 1:43 of the second half, a three by Matthews putting SNHU on top 40-26.  Southern New Hampshire took its largest lead, 44-29, with 16:39 to play on a pair of free throws by Bowen.  UMass Lowell then scored 14 unanswered points to make it a 44-43 game at the 10:20 mark on a pair of free throws by Heatherly before Matthews stopped the run with a three on SNHU's next possession, starting a 7-0 spurt that ended with a layup by Cory Vejraska (Alachua, FL) with 8:32 left.

UMass Lowell countered with an 8-0 run of its own that tied the game at 53-53 with just under six minutes to play on a pair of free throws by Kerman.  On SNHU's next possession, Matthews would be fouled and would make two at the line with 5:34 left that gave the Penmen the lead for good.  The guests stretched the lead to five, 59-54, with 2:29 left when Matthews sank a pair at the line.  The River Hawks got the lead back down to one, 61-60, with 1:18 left on a steal and basket by Caiola.

The River Hawks built an early 8-2 lead, but the Penmen would score seven straight points in a span of 1:13, a layup by Wood at the 14:26 mark giving SNHU a 9-8 lead.  Kerman reclaimed the lead for UML with a three at the 13:50 mark, but it would be the last River Hawk lead of the night, as nine straight points capped by a pair of free throws by Stapleton 9:14 before halftime gave Southern New Hampshire an 18-11 lead.  SNHU led by as many as eight in the opening 20 minutes and took a 32-26 lead into the locker room.

Southern New Hampshire stifled UMass Lowell defensively, allowing the River Hawks to shoot just 29.1% from the floor and 29% (9-31) from three-point land.  UML made more three-point baskets (9) than two-point baskets (7), and was outrebounded by the Penmen 41-38.

Southern New Hampshire is making its fourth trip to the Northeast-10 semifinals since joining the league prior to the 2000-01 season, and its first since 2005.