Manchester, N.H. (January 14) -- Saint Anselm rallied to cut the lead to single digits late, but couldn't overcome 29 percent shooting as the Hawks dropped a 73-64 final to Merrimack in Northeast-10 men's basketball action on Wednesday night at Stoutenburgh Gym.

In the opening half, the lead changed hands just twice as Merrimack built to as high as a seven-point lead at 16-9 with 11:26 on the clock. The Hawks answered though with a 9-2 run, capped by a jumper from Branimir Zeko (Mississauga, Ontario), to tie the game at 18-18 with 6:38 remaining. Saint Anselm briefly took the lead at 23-22 after a jumper in the paint by Jack Keough (Owego, N.Y.) before the Warriors ended the period on a 10-3 run for the 32-26 halftime advantage. Hakeem Williams (Spring Valley, N.Y.) led Saint Anselm in the first half with nine points, while Zeko had seven rebounds. Roland Davis (Deer Park, N.Y.) head seven first-half points to pace Merrimack.

Saint Anselm went cold to start the second half as the Warriors expanded their lead to as many as 24 points with 14:07 left in the game. The Warriors had a 70-54 lead with 1:40 remaining that was cut to nine with 47 seconds left following a three-pointer from Greg Vetrano (Andover, Mass.), but Merrimack held on for the victory.

Williams led the Hawks with 15 points and was joined in double figures by Thomas Baudinet (Watertown, Conn.) with 12 points. Zeko led the team on the boards with 13 rebounds. Darren Duncan (Briarwood, N.Y.) led four Warriors in double figures with a 15-point night on just 4-of-11 shooting.

With the loss, Saint Anselm has now dropped three straight to fall to 10-4 overall and 6-4 in the Northeast-10. Merrimack is now 12-3 overall and improves to 8-2 in league play. The Hawks are back in action on Saturday, January 17th as the team hosts Le Moyne for a 3:30 p.m. start at Stoutenburgh Gym.