Penmen stun Pace, 72-71, to become first NE10 team in 17 years to repeat as champs
Senior Kurtis Henderson (5'11''-PG) (Brockton, Mass.) buried a 3-pointer with 0.3 seconds on the clock in overtime to catapult the second-seeded Southern New Hampshire University men's basketball team to its second straight NE10 Championship tournament crown with a 72-71 victory over fifth-seeded and 22nd-ranked Pace University on Saturday afternoon in front of an electric crowd at the Stan Spirou Field House.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
Henderson – 6 points (2-10 FG, 2-7 3-FG), 3 assists, 5 steals
Junior Royce Williams (6'1''-G) (Manchester, N.H.) – 21 points (8-14 FG, 4-8 3-FG, 1-2 FT), 2 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals
Senior Paul Greene (6'6''-F) (Freeport, Bahamas) – 18 points (5-18 FG, 1-3 3-FG, 7-14 FT), 13 rebounds, career-high-matching 6 assists, 2 steals
Senior Jhamyl Fricas (6'3''-G-2001) (Lawrence, Mass.) – 18 points (6-7 FG, 4-5 3-FG, 2-3 FT), 3 rebounds

KEY MOMENTS
Pace opened its largest lead of the contest at 20-15 just past the midway point of the first half, but Southern New Hampshire would embark on a 12-2 run – capped by a pair of Fricas 3-pointers – a little over a minute later to grab a 29-24 advantage with 4:20 to play. Five lead changes and a pair of ties followed, with Pace bringing a 35-33 edge to the break.
SNHU used a 6-0 flury – sparked by back-to-back buckets from Williams – to seize its largest lead of the afternoon at 49-42 with 13:15 remaining. The Setters responded by scoring 14 of the next 20 points to flip back in front, 56-55, with 5:20 to go. Three lead changes and three ties ensued, leaving the game knotted at 61-all. Pace knocked down a triple with 46 seconds left to break the deadlock, but Williams answered with a trey of his own with 31 ticks to play, tying the game, 64-64. Greene came up huge for the Penmen, blocking a Pace shot in the paint with six seconds left to preserve the tie, but a half-court heave at the buzzer for the Penmen did not fall.
Neither team led by more than two points in the extra session, with an old-fashioned three-point play from Greene putting SNHU in front, 69-68, with 42 seconds left. After the Setters were fouled shooting a 3 with 27 seconds left, they made two of three at the line to go up one. A Penmen miss gave Pace a chance to at least extend the game into double overtime, but it would only make one of two at the stripe to nudge the lead to 71-69, leaving the door open for SNHU. Henderson would kick the door down, burying a 3-pointer from the right wing with 0.3 seconds on the clock. Following a timeout, Pace tried to throw the ball the length of the court, but Fricas knocked it down to seal the victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
Senior Jordan Brathwaite (6'7''-F) (Silver Spring, Md.) posted six points (2-5 FG, 2-3 FT), six rebounds and three assists.
Senior Noah Harris (6'1''-G) (Manalapan, N.J.) chipped in three points (1-1 FG, 1-1 3-FG).
The tightly-contested game featured 19 lead changes and 11 ties, including four lead changes and three ties in overtime alone, with neither team leading in the contest by more than seven.
Pace outshot Southern New Hampshire, 45.5 percent (25-55) to 40 percent (24-60), while SNHU returned the favor from long distance, 44.4 percent (12-27) to 42.9 percent (6-14). Pace shot it better from the line, 71.4 percent (15-21) to 54.5 percent (12-22).
The Penmen scored more second chance points (15-13) and submitted a more impressive assist-to-turnover ratio (16/12-11/18), while the Setters captured the glass (45-32) and the paint (24-20), scored more points on the fast break (11-6) and received more scoring from their bench (8-3). Points off turnovers were even (13-13).

NOTES
Southern New Hampshire has won 12 of its last 14, including nine of 10 and eight straight.
Pace, ranked 22nd in the Division II College Sport Communicators (D2CSC) Media Poll and receiving votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) Division II Coaches Poll, was playing in its first NE10 title game.
The Penmen reach 21 wins for the third consecutive season – the first time they have accomplished the feat since 2014-15 to 2016-17.
SNHU improves to 29-16 (.644) in its 20th appearance in the NE10 Championship and captures its fourth NE10 title (2013, 2016, 2024) – as well as its second consecutive – in its seventh trip to the finals (2003, 2004, 2013, 2016, 2017, 2024). The Penmen hoisted the NE10 Championship trophy at home for the second time, after winning last season and then having lost their only previous NE10 final at the Stan Spirou Field House back in 2017. After winning their third NE10 crown last season, the Penmen have won seven straight NE10 postseason contests. SNHU is now 3-2 against Pace in the NE10 championship, as the Penmen dispatch the Setters for the second straight season.
Southern New Hampshire is the seventh repeat NE10 Champion and first since Bentley University in 2007 and 2008. The Penmen are the first team to play in the NE10 finals in back-to-back years since the University of New Haven in 2019 and 2020, as well as the first program to host consecutive NE10 title tilts since Bentley in 2007 and 2008. SNHU captures back-to-back conference crowns for the first time since 1997-98 and 1998-98 when it was a member of the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC).
Greene was named the 2025 NE10 Championship Most Outstanding Player and was joined on the NE10 All-Championship Team by Williams and Fricas.
Greene notched 21.7 points on 45.3 percent (24-53) shooting from the floor, 12.7 rebounds, and 2.7 assists per game over the three contests of the NE10 Championship. Williams registered 16.0 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists, while shooting 47.5 percent (19-40) from the field, including 50 percent (8-16) from deep.
SNHU, which leads the all-time series, 24-16, has won 15 of the last 21 meetings, as well as three of four, though the teams have split the last 12 gatherings. The teams halved the regular-season series, with SNHU pulling out a 64-62 home victory against the then-13-0 and seventh-ranked Setters back on Jan. 5, before Pace posted a 76-58 home win Feb. 1. The Penmen have won 11 of 12 at home against the Setters.
Greene's double-double is his 20th of the season, as well as his 12th in the last 17 games, eighth in the last 10 and third straight.
Henderson, who has been battling illness, was just 4-for-27 (14.8%) shooting in this NE10 postseason before knocking down the biggest shot of the tournament.
This marks the third conference crown for SNHU head coach Jack Perri, who captured a Northeast Conference (NEC) title in his first year as head coach at Long Island University Brooklyn in 2013. Perri has won 204 career games, including 107 in six seasons at SNHU.

Northeast-10 Final:
Pace - Southern NH 71-72

Northeast-10 Semifinals:
Adelphi - Pace 68-72
Southern NH - Bentley 58-56

Northeast-10 Quarterfinals:
Adelphi - Saint Michael's 85-77
Southern NH - Saint Anselm 78-70
Pace - Assumption 74-72
Bentley - SCSU 87-84

Northeast-10 First Round:
SCSU - Franklin Pierce 85-76
Saint Anselm - American International 84-53
New Haven - Saint Michael's 58-66

Courtesy of northeast10.org