Men's Basketball Opens NE-10 Tourney Saturday at Bryant

MANCHESTER, N.H. – After an uncharacteristic one-year absence from the postseason, the Southern New Hampshire University men’s basketball team has qualified for the 12-team Northeast-10 Tournament.  The Penmen (12-15, 9-13), who have earned the No. 10 seed, will travel to seventh-seeded Bryant Saturday for a 2:00 contest.  The two teams split a pair of meetings this season, with Bryant winning 62-54 in Manchester December 8 and the Penmen leaving Rhode Island with a 73-62 win January 16.

The Penmen enter the NE-10 Tournament on a four-game slide and have won just once over the last seven games.  SNHU is paced by senior Sam Carey (Manchester, NH).  Carey leads the Penmen and is among the NE-10 leaders in scoring (16.8 ppg), rebounding (8.7 rpg) and field goal percentage (.632).  Junior Troy Bowen (Nashua, NH) has connected on a team-high 46 three-pointers and is averaging 12.6 ppg, while classmate Gerald Carter (Harlem, NY) is adding 12.4 points, 5.7 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 1.4 steals per game.

Bryant (16-11, 12-10) has dropped two in a row heading into the NE-10 Tournament.  The Bulldogs are paced by Jon Ezeokoli, who is averaging 14.2 ppg.  Cecil Gresham checks in with a 12.6 ppg average, while Chris Birrell is adding 11.3 ppg.

Southern New Hampshire has now qualified for the NE-10 Tournament seven times since joining the league prior to the 2000-01 academic year.  The Penmen have compiled a 7-6 record in the tournament, and reached the conference title game in 2003 and 2004 and reached the semifinals in 2005.

2008 Northeast-10 Conference
Men’s Basketball Championship
(All Games Played at Higher Seed)

Saturday, March 1 – First Round
No. 12 American International (10-17, 7-15) at No. 5 Stonehill (16-13, 12-10)
No. 9 Saint Anselm (13-13, 11-11) at No. 8 Le Moyne (14-13, 12-10)
No. 11 UMass Lowell (11-16, 8-14) at No. 6 Merrimack (17-10, 12-10)
No. 10 Southern New Hampshire (12-15, 9-13) at No. 7 Bryant (16-11, 12-10)

Monday, March 3 – Quarterfinals
AIC/STO winner at No. 4 Pace (14-13, 13-9)
STA/LEM winner at No. 1 Bentley (27-0, 22-0)
UML/MER winner at No. 3 Assumption (20-9, 14-8)
SNH/BRY winner at No. 2 Saint Rose (21-6, 18-4)

Thursday, March 6 – Semifinals
AIC/STO/PAC vs. STA/LEM/BEN
UML/MER/ASM vs. SNH/BRY/STR

Saturday, March 8 – Championship
Semifinal Winners