MANCHESTER, NH – The College of Saint Rose held Southern New Hampshire to 38.3 percent (23-for-60) shooting from the floor and withstood a late charge by the host Penmen to chalk up a 72-66 Northeast-10 Conference victory this afternoon. The contest marked the 750th game for Brian Beaury (528-222) as a head coach on the Saint Rose bench.

Junior guard Rob Gutierrez tossed in a career-high 27 points and junior forward Brian Hanuschak recorded his fifth “double-double” of the year for the Golden Knights (11-4/6-4 NE-10), who also benefitted from four key free throws in the final minute by sophomore guard Andre Pope.

Hanuschak tossed in 11 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, while Pope finished with nine points, six rebounds and six assists to go with a pair of steals. Freshman center Dominykas Milka added nine points and seven boards during 17 minutes of reserve duty. Junior forward Sheldon Griffin contributed seven points and six rebounds as Saint Rose won for the fifth time in its last seven outings.

The Golden Knights took for the lead for good with 18 minutes remaining and expanded their margin to 11 with 6:01 left, before Southern New Hampshire (5-9/1-9 NE-10) scored five unanswered points that made it a one possession ballgame with 90 seconds showing on the clock.

Gutierrez snapped the game's fourth and final tie, 36-36, with a layup and then followed a pair of Griffin free throws with a 3-pointer to spearhead a 17-8 Saint Rose run that yielded a 61-50 lead with six minutes to go. Junior guard Shea Bromirski capped the spurt with a pair from the stripe and a 3-pointer that initially appeared to remove any doubt regarding the final outcome.

Southern New Hampshire refused to quietly though. Three straight Saint Rose turnovers coupled with layups by sophomore guard Greg DeSantis and junior forward Tory Stapleton, and a free throw by junior guard Marcus Matthews allowed the Penmen to pull within three, 68-65, with 1:07 remaining.

However, Pope's clutch free throw shooting as compared with Southern New Hampshire's 1-for-4 effort from the stripe during the final minute allowed Saint Rose to drive away with the victory.

Stapleton wound up with 16 points, 13 rebounds and four assists; while DeSantis scored a team-high 18 points to lead the Penmen. Freshman guard CJ Marriro added 11 points on 5-for-6 shooting throughout 26 minutes off the bench.

Looking ahead, both clubs have conference dates on tap for Saturday. The Golden Knights are scheduled to host Saint Anselm at 3:30 pm, while the Penmen have a 3:00 pm meeting set for Le Moyne out in Syracuse.

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