LOWELL, Mass. – A 19-4 run late in the second half pushed Southern New Hampshire University past UMass Lowell 85-73 in Northeast-10 men's basketball Sunday afternoon at the Costello Athletic Center.  The Penmen, who complete their first regular season sweep of UML since 2002-03  improve to 13-8 and 9-8 in the NE-10, while the River Hawks fall to 13-8 and 9-8 in the league.

Rodney Sanders (Linden, N.J.) led four Southern New Hampshire players in double figures with 19 points, going 3-5 behind the arc and 6-13 overall.  Mike Stys (Hooksett, N.H.) tallied 15 points, while Elijah Bonsignore (Felton, Del.) was 5-8 off the bench and finished with 13 points.  BJ Cardarelli (Manchester, Conn.) notched a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.

Akeem Williams led all scorers with 24 points for the River Hawks, while Chad Holley recorded 14 points and Antonio Bivins 10.

Southern New Hampshire trailed by eight early in the second half and 59-55 with just under nine minutes remaining when the Penmen scored six straight to take their first lead of the second half with 7:14 left on a jumper by Nikola Canic (Belgrade, Serbia) from the left corner.  SNHU extended the run to 19-4 and built a 74-63 lead with 2:53 left on a floater in the paint by Bonsignore.  UMass Lowell scored the next four points to pull within seven, but the guests sealed the win by going 7-8 at the free throw line in the final 1:26.

The Penmen held an 8-4 lead five minutes into the game when UML scored nine unanswered points to build a 15-8 lead on a Bivins layup 11:49 before intermission.  SNHU used an 11-5 run to pull within one, 20-19 on a three-point play by Bonsignore with 9:44 to go.  A late 8-2 run capped by a Williams three gave the River Hawks their biggest lead of the first half, 40-29, with 1:48 left, but the Penmen scored the final five points of the half and trailed by six, 40-34, at intermission. 

Southern New Hampshire shot 60.0% in the second half (15-25) and 45.6% for the game and made 11 of its 25 three-point attempts while UMass Lowell shot 42.4% overall.  The Penmen held a commanding 47-30 rebounding advantage, including a 13-8 advantage on the offensive glass, and also took 10 more trips to the free throw line, going 22-29 while the hosts were 12-19 at the charity stripe.

Southern New Hampshire returns to action Wednesday night when it hosts Franklin Pierce University in a 7:30 Northeast-10 contest at the SNHU Fieldhouse.