Box Score BOX SCORE
When and Where: January 23, 2016 – Manchester, N.H. (SNHU Fieldhouse)
Score: Southern New Hampshire University 73, University of New Haven 55
Records: SNHU 11-8 (7-5 Northeast-10), New Haven 6-12 (3-9 Northeast-10)
Senior Rodney Sanders (Elizabeth, N.J.) scored 25 points for the third time in the last four games to lead the Southern New Hampshire University men's basketball team to Saturday's 73-55 victory against the University of New Haven at the SNHU Fieldhouse.
Sanders was a sizzling 9 of 10 from the field, including 3 of 4 from behind the arc, and 4 of 6 from the stripe, while tallying five rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block. Classmate BJ Cardarelli (Manchester, Conn.) posted 12 points (5-11 FG, 2-2 FT) and a season-best eight rebounds, with freshman Charlie Russo (Syracuse, N.Y.) adding a career-high 11 points (4-4 FG, 3-3 3-FG). Junior Devin Gilligan (Amherst, N.H.) notched his third double-double of the season with 10 points (2-10 FG, 6-6 FT) and 12 boards.
Tommy Hunt paced the Chargers with 13 points.
New Haven opened the game with a 5-2 spurt before Southern New Hampshire responded with an 8-2 counter-run – with four points from Gilligan – to grab a 10-7 lead with 12:03 remaining in the opening half.
A 3-pointer from Russo just over two minutes later gave the Penmen their largest lead of the half at 15-9 before an 11-4 run from New Haven put the Chargers back in front, 20-19, with 5:54 to play.
The teams traded the lead four times before SNHU seized it for good on another Russo triple that made it 27-26 with 3:12 on the clock. Sanders followed with the rare four-point play to increase the margin to five and the Penmen would eventually head into the locker room with a 31-30 lead.
Southern New Hampshire opened the second half with an 11-1 surge that featured four points from junior Adrian Oliveira (Pawtucket, R.I.) and three from Sanders and widened the gap to 42-32 just over four minutes in.
With the lead still 10 more than five minutes later, the Penmen ripped off 11 straight points – with five coming from Russo – to break the game wide open at 60-39 with 8:24 remaining. SNHU would take its largest lead of the game at 72-48 on a layup from freshman Remo Simankevicius (Melbourne, Australia) with 3:35 left and New Haven would never get closer than 18.
Oliveira finished with eight points (4-7 FG) and four assists.
Notes:
-Southern New Hampshire outshot New Haven, 50 percent (27-54) to 33.3 percent (19-57), including 35.3 percent (6-17) to 19.2 percent (5-26) from long range and 55.6 percent (15-27) to 25 percent (7-28) in the second half, overall.
-The Penmen won the glass (37-31) and the paint (34-26), while featuring a better assist-to-turnover ratio (14/10-4/9).
-The win snaps a three-game losing skid for Southern New Hampshire – its longest since Dec. 20-Jan. 7 of last season.
-Sanders scored in double figures in his 16th consecutive game.
Up Next:
The Penmen are back in action Tuesday, Jan. 26 (7:30 p.m.) when they play host to Le Moyne College on Penmen Whiteout Night in a game that will be televised live on NESNplus and NESN National at the Fieldhouse. Tickets can be purchased HERE or at the box office on the day of the game.
For the latest on Southern New Hampshire University athletics, follow the Penmen via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Youtube and Instagram. Sign up to receive text message alerts and e-mail newsletters about your favorite Penmen teams here.
