New Haven, Conn. (November 17) -- For the fourth straight season, the Saint Anselm men's basketball team captured its season opener as the Hawks defeated Southern Connecticut by an 88-80 final at Moore Fieldhouse. The win is the 11th straight in the all-time series vs. the Owls as Saint Anselm now holds a 19-8 against Southern Connecticut.

In the opening minutes, both teams came out a bit tentative before settling into the game. After Southern Connecticut took a 12-10 lead on a putback by freshman center Peter Simek (Bratislava, Slovakia), the Hawks went on a 9-2 run that was capped by a three-pointer by Junior Mitchell (Brooklyn, N.Y.) to take their biggest lead of the half at 19-14 with 10:46 left. The Owls came right back with a run of their own and took the lead at 28-26 with 5:44 left and pushed it to 36-30 with 3:22 remaining on the clock. From that point, Saint Anselm put together a 9-0 spurt, led by five points from freshman Thomas Baudinet (Watertown,Conn.), to head into the halftime break with the 39-36 lead. Mitchell led the Hawks with 12 points in the half on 4-for-6 shooting and a pair of three-pointers.

The Hawks picked up right where they left off to begin the second half as the raced out to a 59-51 lead with 11:04 remaining behind 10 points from freshman John Tello (Ridgefield Park, N.J.) and pair of baskets from Baudinet. The lead went to as many as 12 on two occasions, thanks to some clutch free throw shooting from the Hawks. The Owls answered back though and cut the lead to 65-58 with 7:48 left after a three-pointer from Derrick Corbett (New Haven,Conn.). After the Hawks pushed the lead back to double figures, the Owls roared back thanks to solid three-point shooting and closed to within 75-71 with 2:26 left on the clock. The Hawks were having none of that though as Chris Vetrano (Andover,Mass.) knocked down five free throws in the final minutes and ended with a 13-for-14 performance from the charity stripe. After the Owls closed back to 85-80 in the final seconds, Greg Vetrano (Andover,Mass.) hit one of two free throws and Baudinet hit two with 2.4 seconds left to account for the 88-80 final.

Baudinet was impressive in his debut with a team-high 19 points as he led four players in double figures. Justin Gardenhire (Rosedale,N.Y.) led all scorers with 20 points as three Owls ended up in double figures. 

With the win, the Hawks are now 1-0 overall and in Northeast-10 play, while Southern Connecticut drops to 0-1 overall and in the league. Saint Anselm is back in action on Tuesday evening for its home opener as the Hawks host Bryant. Opening tip is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. at Stoutenburgh Gym. That game can be viewed live at www.NE10.tv.