Manchester, N.H. (January 6) -- Led by 22
points from junior guard Greg Vetrano (Andover,
Mass.), the Saint Anselm men's basketball team won its
seventh straight game with an 80-62 win over Southern New Hampshire
on Tuesday night.
Southern New Hampshire jumped out to a quick 9-8 lead with 16:19
left in the opening period before the Hawks took control and the
lead from the Penmen. The Hawks pushed the lead to as many as 11
points at 24-13 after a three-pointer from Vetrano with 10:03
remaining. The Penmen cut the lead back down to six at 36-30 before
a quick 7-2 burst by the Hawks gave the visitors the lead at 43-32.
On the final Saint Anselm possession of the half, the Hawks
inbounded the ball to Vetrano, who took it over midcourt and found
Branimir Zeko (Mississauga, Ontario) wide open
under the basket for a buzzer-beating layup. Vetrano knocked down a
trio of three-pointers in the period for a team-best 16 points and
the Hawks shot 60.7 percent from the field in the half.
The Penmen opened the second half with an 8-2 run to close the
lead down to 45-40 and after a layup from Kelly Coder
(Exeter, N.H.), were back to within three at 47-44 with
14:09 remaining. The Hawks held the Penmen scoreless for a
three-minute stretch to get the lead back to 52-44 before a quick
five-point burst made it a one-possession game at 52-49. Saint
Anselm sophomore guard Pat Luptowski (Keene,
N.H.), who had been held scoreless through the game's
first 30 minutes, knocked down a three-pointer to push the lead
back to 55-49. Two straight Zeko layups made it a 59-49 game with
8:34 left in regulation, forcing a timeout by SNHU head coach Stan
Spirou. The Hawks didn't let up though with a 14-7 burst over the
next five minutes to push the lead out of reach at 74-56 with under
four minutes left.
Vetrano led the Hawks with a season-high 22 points as five
players finished in double figures. Zeko recorded his third
double-double with a 10-point, 10-rebound effort. Gerald
Carter (Harlem, N.Y.) led the Penmen with 16 points.
With the win, the Hawks are now off to a 10-1 start, the best
start through 11 games under 23rd-year head coach Keith Dickson.
The team is also 6-1 in the Northeast-10, while the Penmen fall to
7-6 overall and 3-5 in the league. Saint Anselm is back in action
on Thursday night when the Hawks travel to Stonehill for a 7:30
p.m. start in Easton, Mass.
