ALBANY – The College of Saint Rose men's basketball team allowed a 12-point, second half lead to slip away as 11th seed Southern New Hampshire pulled off an 84-77 victory over the sixth seeded Golden Knights in a first round game of the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament this afternoon. It marks the second year in a row the Penmen (15-13) defeated Saint Rose in the opening round of tournament play after taking a 62-57 triumph in Manchester, NH last February.

“We overcame so many obstacles this year to surgeries and guys missing much of the season. It was a challenging year. However, this group never once gave up, faltered or complained. I could not be more proud of them,” said Saint Rose head coach Brian Beaury.

The Golden Knights (16-12) rattled off five straight points to start the second half to take its largest lead of the game, 43-31, with still more than 18 minutes to play. Sophomore guard Shea Bromirski converted a layup and freshman guard Andre Pope buried a 3-pointer to cap the quick start. Saint Rose still maintained a double-digit, 47-37, margin at the 16:37 mark following a jumper by senior guard Jermaine Clark.

It was at that point Southern New Hampshire began its assault. Sophomore guard Josh Morgan-Green jump-started a 15-7 run with a layup and junior forward Cory Vejraska punctuated it with five straight points to get the Penmen back to within a bucket, 54-52, with 12:49 to go.

It remained a one or two possession game for the next four minutes until sophomore guard Lucas Croteau knocked down a trey from the left wing that got Southern New Hampshire back even, 60-60, for the first time since the 13:59 mark of the first period. All told, there were seven ties and nine lead changes throughout the contest.

Things were still deadlocked 70-70 after Pope twinkled the nylon again with 2:41 to play. However, junior forward Tory Stapleton scored five consecutive points and senior guard Stephen Wood went 1-for-2 from the stripe to give the Penmen the lead for good, 76-70, with 1:28 remaining.

The Golden Knights were then forced to foul down the stretch, but Southern New Hampshire made the most of its opportunities at the foul line by going 8-for-12 in the waning moments to keep it at least a two possession ballgame. The Penmen wound up outscoring Saint Rose 53-39 on the strength of 58.6 percent (17-for-29) shooting throughout the second stanza and also forced the Golden Knights into 19 turnovers for the game.

“Nobody thought much of this group back in October. However, to win 16 times in a league that may get six of eight NCAA Tournament berths out of this region is something that should not be taken lightly,” added Beaury.

Clark led Saint Rose in scoring with 19 points in his final game on Western Avenue. He caps a standout career 11th on the all-time scoring list (1,462) and third with 256, 3-pointers. Senior forward Malcolm Williams put in quality minutes with four points, five assists and three boards in his final contest as well. Williams is 11th all-time in blocks at this juncture (52).

Additionally, Bromirski chipped in with 17 points today and Pope, the NE-10 Rookie of the Year, finished with 16.

Stapleton led all scorers with 25 points behind a 9-for-12 effort from the floor. Morgan-Green and freshman forward Hanell Velez tossed in 14 points apiece, while Croteau added 13 points in 24 minutes of reserve action. 

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