The Northeast-10’s two divisional winners squared off for the East Regional championship in the Birthplace of Basketball, and the game between the two former NECC rivals would up being surprisingly one-sided:
SOUTHERN NEW HAMPSHIRE 75 SOUTHERN CONNECTICUT 58
There will not be a repeat champion in the East Region as second-seeded Southern New Hampshire stifled five-seed and defending champ Southern Connecticut in Springfield to reach the Elite-8 for the first time in 20 years – and seventh time in program history. A 15-4 run over a nearly nine-minute stretch of the second half lengthened a 42-41 lead to 57-45 after an Elijah Bonsignore basket with 4:38 to play as the Penmen used their suffocating defense to limit the high-octane Owls offense to a season-low 58 points… 32 below their 90.2 average, which was fourth-highest in the nation coming in. SNHU actually held all three of its opponents at the regional under 60 points, though this was the first time in three games the team played with the lead, not requiring a late rally to prevail. Southern – which defeated the team previously known as New Hampshire College in the 1997 regional final – scored the first five points of the night and was ahead 12-7 when the Penmen clamped down, using a defense-fueled 20-7 charge to open up a 27-19 lead it would never relinquish. The Owls came within 42-41 after a Tylon Smith lay-up with 12:47 left before SNHU unleashed its big run to go up a dozen. Southern Connecticut – which shot a frigid 31% from the floor and 17% from beyond the arc – came within nine points twice in the closing moments but a jumper by Aleksandar Dobrovic (seven points, four assists, five steals) and a 10-of-14 performance at the foul line within the final two minutes expanded the final margin to a somewhat shocking 17 points. The new regional champs also struggled from the field at 35% but fared better from deep (7-22 to 4-24), at the stripe (26-34 to 16-21) and on the glass (50-38), as they claimed 12 of the game’s 15 second-chance points. Five Penmen scored between 10 and 13 points, led by Bonsignore and Rodney Sanders, who authored the bizarre line of 13 points on 1-of-9 shooting overall but 11-of-14 from the free-throw line while snatching 10 rebounds. B.J. Cardarelli – who was named Most Outstanding Player thanks to 9-of-16 long-range shooting in the three games – finished with 12 points and six boards, while Phillip Tripodakis (12, 5) and Devin Gilligan (11, 9) came up big off the bench for the winners. Smith was high man for Southern with 17 points, while fellow senior Luke Houston likewise closed out a magnificent career with 13 points (8-8 FT) and six assists. That pair, plus Michael Mallory (13 points off the bench), combined to shoot a dismal 12-for-41 from the floor (4-of-16 from 3), while Desmond Williams was the lone bright spot with 10 points (5-8 FG) and 13 rebounds as his team lost for the first time in its last six NCAA regional games.
NEXT STOP: EVANSVILLE
Southern New Hampshire’s defensive skills will once again be challenged in the national quarterfinals as the Penmen will take on the nation’s #1 team – Florida Southern – next Wednesday at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. The Moccasins – who have won a nation-best 33 games, including 22 straight – outlasted fellow Sunshine State Conference foe Lynn, 88-80, in the South Regional final and boast the fifth-best scoring offense in Division 2 (88.7 ppg) while forcing 9.1 steals a game thanks to a formidable press. SNHU will be the latest candidate to try and snap a 26-year national championship drought at the Elite-8. Since Lowell (now UMass-Lowell of Division I) captured the 1988 title, only two regional teams have even reached the final game: Bridgeport in 1991 and 1992, and Bryant (now Division I) in 2005. The East Region (formerly known as the Northeast, and before that the New England region) has gone the longest without taking home the grand prize. We wish NE-10 Coach of the Year Stan Spirou and his troops the very best in their attempt to end that frustrating jinx.