Smithfield, R.I. (January 30)
-- Despite a late second-half charge, the Saint Anselm men's
basketball team dropped an 86-73 final to Bryant University on
Wednesday night at the Chace Athletic Center in Rhode Island. The
game is the final regular-season meeting between the two schools as
members of the Northeast-10, as the Bulldogs are moving up to
Division I next season.
Bryant took a quick 7-2 lead before the Hawks took their first
lead at 11-9 with a 9-2 run. The lead came following a steal from
Jeff Dickson (Bedford, N.H.) and a pass ahead to
Chris Vetrano (Andover, Mass.) for the layup. The
Bulldogs, led by two three-pointers from Peter Lambert
(Cumberland, R.I.), used an 8-0 spurt to regain the lead
at 17-11 with 11:45 remaining. From that point forward though in
the first half it turned into the Cecil Greshman
show, as the Bloomfield, Conn. native nailed six three-pointers and
finished the first half with 22 points as the Bulldogs dropped 10
three-pointers in the period. The Bulldogs took a 48-24 lead into
the halftime break, the largest halftime deficit of the season for
the Hawks.
An 8-0 run to open the second period gave Bryant its largest
lead at 56-24 before the Hawks put together an 8-0 spurt to get the
game back to 56-32 with 14:56 remaining. Saint Anselm clawed back
though and after five unanswered points from sophomore Greg
Vetrano (Andover, Mass.), the Hawks were back within 18 at
67-49 with 9:06 remaining in the half. After the lead was back at
20, the Hawks went on an 8-0 spurt to make it 73-61, capped by a
pair of free throws from freshman Thomas Baudinet
(Watertown, Conn.). Saint Anselm cut the lead down to 10
just seconds later on a three-pointer from sophomore
Giovanni Carenza (East Hanover, N.J.), making it a
74-64 game with 4:07 left. The Hawks trimmed the lead down to
nine points twice in the final minutes, but could get no
closer as the Bulldogs held off the furious rally to end the
game.
Baudinet led the Hawks with a 20-point night as four Hawks ended
the game in double figures. Greshman led all scorers with a
career-high 36 points to pace the Bulldogs.
With the loss, the Hawks have now dropped three straight and and
fall to 8-11 overall and 6-9 in Northeast-10 play. Bryant improves
to 12-8 overall and 8-7 in league play and has won three straight
games. Saint Anselm is back in action on Saturday, February 2nd as
the team travels to Pace for a 1:30 p.m. start in Pleasantville,
N.Y.
