STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• Santos – 20 points (9-14 FG, 1-1 3-FG, 1-3 FT), 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, 3 blocks
• Junior Kurtis Henderson (Brockton, Mass.) – 16 points (6-13 FG, 2-3 3-FG, 2-2 FT), 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 assists, 1 block
• Graduate student Matt Becht (Vienna, Va.) – 15 points (5-16 FG, 3-12 3-FG, 2-2 FT), 6 rebounds, 2 assists
• Junior Derrick Grant Jr. (Plainfield, N.J.) – 13 points (3-4 FG, 7-8 FT), 8 rebounds, 3 blocks

KEY MOMENTS

• Southern New Hampshire held a two-point lead nearly 11-and-a-half minutes in when it ripped off a 15-4 run – with six from Becht and four from Grant – to open its largest lead of the first half at 27-14 with 5:34 remaining. Southern Connecticut countered with an 11-4 stretch to pull within 31-25 with 1:41 on the clock. SNHU would go into the locker room with a 33-27 advantage.
• The Penmen stormed out of the locker room with another 15-4 blitz – with seven from Santos and four from Henderson – to extend their lead to 48-31 a little more than five minutes into the second half. SCSU trimmed its deficit to 12 at the midway mark of the second stanza when SNHU netted nine straight – with five from Becht and four from senior Noah Kamba (Lynn, Mass.) – to seize its largest lead of the contest at 61-40 with 7:26 to play. The Owls scored 18 of the next 26 points to climb within 11 at 69-58 with a little over two minutes to go, but the Penmen made all four of their free throws to extend their lead late.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Kamba tallied four points (2-6 FG), two rebounds and two assists.
• Junior Paul Greene (Freeport, Bahamas) posted three points (1-4 FG, 1-2 FT) and three boards.
• Junior Jordan Brathwaite (Silver Spring, Md.) notched two points (2-4 FT) and seven rebounds.
• Sophomore Royce Williams (Manchester, N.H.) chipped in two points (1-2 FG) and a pair of rebounds.
• Southern New Hampshire outshot Southern Connecticut, 44.3 percent (27-61) to 32.8 percent (19-58), while the Owls were better from deep, 34.6 percent (9-26) to 30 percent (6-26).
• SCSU also held a 72.2 percent (13-18) to 71.4 percent (15-21) edge from the line.
• The Penmen dominated the glass (45-29) and paint (38-18), scored more points off turnovers (16-4) and featured a slightly more impressive assist-to-turnover ratio (12/14-10/14). The Owls owned an edge in bench scoring (10-9). Second chance points (13-13) and fast break scoring (6-6) were even.

NOTES

• Southern New Hampshire, which reaches 21 wins for the second straight year, has won eight of its last 10, including a season-high seven-in-a-row.
• The Penmen improve to 26-16 (.619) all-time in the NE10 Championship, including 2-2 against Southern Connecticut. SNHU captures its third NE10 title (2013, 2016) in its sixth trip to the finals (2003, 2004, 2013, 2016, 2017). The Penmen also hoisted the NE10 Championship trophy at home for the first time, having lost their only previous NE10 final at the Stan Spirou Field House back in 2017.
• Becht was named the 2024 NE10 Championship Most Outstanding Player and was joined on the NE10 All-Championship Team by Santos. Junior Luke Bramanti (Chelmsford, Mass.) earned the NE10's prestigious Elite 24 Award, which honors the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade-point average (GPA) participating at the finals site at each NE10 Championship.
• SNHU leads the all-time series with SCSU, 59-25, and has won seven of the last eight, including six straight. The Penmen have won six-in-a-row at home, with the Owls last winning at the Field House on Jan. 7, 2015 (75-70).
• The Penmen swept the regular season series against the Owls with an 84-71 home triumph Jan. 13 and an 82-70 road victory Feb. 21.
• This marks the second conference crown for SNHU head coach Jack Perri, who captured a Northeast Conference (NEC) title in his first year as head coach at Long Island University Brooklyn in 2013. Perri has won 180 career games, including 83 in five seasons at SNHU.

WHAT'S NEXT

• With the NE10's Automatic Qualifier in hand, the Penmen will await the seeding for the NCAA Championship. The NCAA Selection Show airs Sunday (March 10) at 11 p.m. on NCAA.com.