MANCHESTER, N.H. – Seniors Tory Stapleton (Rahway, N.J.) (pictured) and Lucas Croteau (Rochester, N.H.) each finished with 12 points, leading Southern New Hampshire University to a 70-63 Northeast-10 men's basketball victory over Merrimack College Saturday afternoon at the SNHU Fieldhouse.  The Penmen, who snapped a three-game slide with the victory, improved to 5-4 and 3-4 in the NE-10, while the Warriors are now 6-5 and 3-4 in the league.

Croteau knocked down both of his three-point attempts and finished 4-6 from the floor, while Stapleton was 5-11 overall and pulled down eight rebounds.  Aleksandar Dobrovic (Podgorica, Montenegro) chipped in with nine points and seven rebounds, while BJ Cardarelli (Manchester, Conn.) and Greg DeSantis (Trumbull, Conn.) added seven points apiece.

Aaron Strothers led three Merrimack players in double figures with 26 points and 11 rebounds, going 11-14 from the floor.  Wayne Mack finished with 13 points, while Wilfredo Pagan added 10 points.

Southern New Hampshire, which led by as many as 13 points in the second half, saw its lead whittled to two, 59-57, with 3:43 left when a Mack basket capped an 11-2 Warrior run.  Back-to-back baskets by Stapleton made it a 63-57 game with 2:28 to play.  Merrimack cut it back down to three, 63-60, 2:04 later when Roland Davis made 1-of-2 at the free throw line.

The Penmen pushed the lead back to five on their next possession when Cardarelli knocked down an eight-footer.  The guests would turn it over on their next trip down the floor, and SNHU would seal the victory by going 5-7 at the free throw line in the final minute.

Merrimack trailed 35-26 at halftime but used a 7-0 spurt to pull within four, 42-38, with 15:46 left on a Tyler Young layup.  The Penmen countered with a 9-0 run of their own and a Croteau three with 13:38 left made it a 51-38 game.

Southern New Hampshire never trailed and used an 11-1 run capped by a three by Phillip Tripodakis (Athens, Greece) with 12:09 left to open up a 16-5 lead.  The hosts led by 14 points five times in the first frame and led 35-26 at intermission.

Southern New Hampshire limited the Warriors to just 35.2% shooting for the contest, including a 3-22 effort behind the arc, but Merrimack outrebounded the Penmen 44-43, including a 20-12 offensive rebounding advantage that led to a 20-10 lead in second chance points for the guests.  SNHU shot 45.6% for the game and was 5-13 from three-point land.

SNHU returns to action Wednesday night when it travels to Old Westbury, N.Y. to face New York Institute of Technology in a 6:00 non-conference tilt.