Box Score

Junior F Antonio Bivins (Miami, Fla.) scored 23 points on 9 of 10 field goal shooting but it wasn't enough at Southern New Hampshire University defeated UMass Lowell, 69-63, Sunday afternoon in a Northeast-10 Conference clash at the SNHU Fieldhouse.

With the loss, UMass Lowell slipped to 8-3 overall and 4-3 in the NE-10 entering Wednesday's game at American International (7:30). Southern New Hampshire improved to 8-3 overall and 4-3 in the Conference and visits Le Moyne Wednesday at 7:30.

Bivins also grabbed six rebounds (four offensive) and converted 5 of 6 free throws while graduate Greg DeSantis (Trumbull, Conn.) added 13 points and sophomore G Chad Holley (New York, N.Y.) 11 points.

Freshman G Rodney Sanders led Southern New Hampshire with 19 points on 7-10 field goal shooting while junior G Mike Stys added 16 points, six rebounds and five assists and sophomore Aleksandar Dobrovic 16 points and five rebounds.

Sophomore forward B.J. Cardarelli chipped in 13 points and four rebounds.

"We just did not come up with the big rebound or knock down the big shot when we needed it most today," said head coach Greg Herenda. "We competed very hard. We held SNHU to 40 percent shooting and we shot 50 percent from the floor. But we just did not make enough big plays to win the basketball game."

Southern New Hampshire outscored UMass Lowell 28-11 at the free throw line as his converted 28 of 39 free throw attempts to UMass Lowell's 11 of 16. The advantage offset UMass Lowell's 15-9 edge on points off turnovers as each team committed 15.

The River Hawks also shot .556 in the second half (15-27) opposed to SNHU's .407 (11-27), but only converted 3 of 8 field goal attempts and committed three turnovers over the final 6:35.

UMass Lowell led 53-50 with 7:34 left to play on a layup by freshman G DJ Mlachnik (Muskego, Wisc.), but Southern New Hampshire responded with a 14-3 surge to grab a 64-56 lead with 43 seconds remaining. Sanders led the run with eight points.

UMass Lowell was forced to foul the rest of the way, but SNHU converted 5 of 6 free throws down the stretch to seal the win.

The score was tied at the half, 27-27.