Men's Basketball Entertains Streaking River Hawks Saturday
SNHU (11-10, 7-9 Northeast-10)
vs.
UMass Lowell (15-5, 11-5 Northeast-10)
Saturday, February 4, 2012 - 3:30 pm
SNHU Fieldhouse - Manchester, N.H.
Radio - WTPL 107.7 FM
THE MATCHUP: Southern New Hampshire hosts UMass Lowell Saturday afternoon.
THE COACHES: Stan Spirou is in his 27th season as head coach at Southern New Hampshire...he owns a 521-274 (.655) career record in 26-plus seasons at the helm...Spirou was honored as the New England Collegiate Conference Coach of the Year four times (1993, 94, 95, 99) and has led the Penmen to 14 NCAA Tournaments, four NCAA Regional titles and fourteen 20 win seasons...Greg Herenda is in his fourth season as head coach at UMass Lowell...a 1983 graduate of Merrimack and four year letterwinner for the Warriors, Herenda has been a coach at the collegiate level for over 20 years, including over 15 years as an assistant at the Division I level....in his first three-plus seasons at UML he has compiled a 76-35 record and guided the River Hawks to three NCAA Tournaments.
THE SERIES:Southern New Hampshire owns a 42-29 lead in the all-time series with UMass Lowell...earlier this season the Penmen posted an 80-68 victory in Lowell, Mass....the game was tied at 41 at halftime but SNHU opened the second half on a 17-4 run...BJ Cardarelli led Southern New Hampshire with 24 points, 16 of those coming in the second half...Lucas Croteau totaled 16 points, while Elijah Bonsignore added 12...Akeem Williams led the River Hawks with 17 points while Matt Welch drilled five three-pointers and totaled 15 points.
THE PENMEN: Southern New Hampshire dropped a 77-63 decision at Saint Anselm Tuesday night...Tory Stapleton leads the Penmen in scoring with his 11.8 ppg average, while also grabbing a team-best 6.9 rebounds per game...Stapleton is averaging 14.3 ppg over the last nine games...freshman Elijah Bonsignore is averaging 10.9 ppg and shooting 49.5% from the floor...he also has a team-best 42 blocked shots, including six last Wednesday night in a win over Southern Connecticut...Aleksandar Dobrovic is recording 10.1 points and 4.8 rebounds per game while leading the team in assists with 45...he had a season-high 17 last Wednesday...B.J. Cardarelli and Greg DeSantis are scoring at a 9.8 and 8.8 ppg clip, respectively...the Penmen are shooting .432 overall, .353 behind the arc and .700 at the free throw line while allowing opponents to shoot .451 overall and .376 behind the arc...the Penmen are scoring 69.6 points per game while allowing 69.0 and are outrebounding teams 35.5-35.0.
THE RIVER HAWKS: UMass Lowell, the preseason favorite in the Northeast-10 coaches poll, has won six in a row and is coming off a 74-55 win against Saint Michael's Tuesday night...the River Hawks have also won nine of 10...Akeem Williams leads UML in scoring with his 17.3 ppg average...he is also handing out 3.6 assists per game...Dipanjot Singh is shooting 50.6% from the floor and scoring at a 14.1 ppg clip, while Matt Welch has drilled a team-high 46 three-pointers and is recording 12.6 ppg...Antonio Bivins is the fourth River Hawk averaging double figures, recording 10.3 points per game on the strength of 58.3% shooting...the River Hawks are shooting .458 overall, .378 from three-point land and .694 at the free throw line while allowing opponents to shoot .417 overall and .317 behind the arc...UMass Lowell is scoring 75.3 ppg while also allowing 68.4 ppg while getting outrebounded 36.2-34.0.
WHAT'S NEXT: Southern New Hampshire heads to Franklin Pierce on Wednesday before hosting Bentley next Saturday.
