Rindge, N.H. (November 29) -- A 9-4 run in the
final minutes helped Saint Anselm hold off a furious Franklin
Pierce rally in the second half as the Hawks defeated the Ravens by
a 71-66 final on Sunday night in Northeast-10 Conference play.
Saint Anselm led by as many as eight points in the second half
before the Ravens tied the game at 62-62 with 3:39 left in the
game.
Franklin Pierce took a 4-2 lead in the opening minutes, but that
was the only lead the Ravens would have in the game. With the score
tied at 9-9 five minutes in, the Hawks took a quick 14-9 edge on a
three-pointer from Jack Keough (Owego, N.Y.) and a
layup from Quinn Woodhouse (Gaylord, Mich.). The
Saint Anselm lead ballooned to as many as nine points following a
layup by Thomas Baudinet (Watertown, Conn.) and
after some back and forth play, the Hawks still held a 27-20
advantage with 4:34 left in the first half.
The Ravens answered back over the next two minutes with an 8-1
scoring run that was capped by a three-pointer by Eric
Jean-Guillaume to tied the game at 28 with 2:21 left in
the opening half. Layups by Branimir Zeko (Mississauga,
Ontario) and Hakeem Williams (Spring Valley,
N.Y.), along with a pair of free throws by Greg
Vetrano (Andover, Mass.), gave the Hawks the 34-28 lead at
the break.
In the second half, the Hawks led throughout and by as many as
eight midway through the period. With 4:12 remaining, the Hawks
pushed the lead back to six points and seemed in control after a
jumper from Baudinet made is 62-56 Saint Anselm. A three-point play
from Jean-Guillaume and a three-pointer from Ryan
Creighton off a Hawk turnover quickly erased that deficit
and for the sixth time in the game, the score was tied at 62-62
with 3:39 left.
Saint Anselm did not panic though and regained the lead for good
on a basket by Vetrano and stretched that lead back to seven on a
Woodhouse layup and a three-point play by Zeko. The Ravens missed a
pair of three-pointers in the final seconds and dropped their
second straight game after starting the season at 4-0.
Vetrano and Baudinet led the Hawks with 16 points each, while
Keough and Woodhouse also finished with 10 points. Zeko led the
Hawks with 13 rebounds to go along with seven points.
Jean-Guillaume led all scorers with 23 points for the Ravens, while
Kinard Dozier finished with a 13-point, 16-rebound
double-double. Terrell Ray added an 11-point,
10-rebound double-double.
Saint Anselm is now 3-1 overall and 2-1 in the Northeast-10,
while the Ravens are 4-2 overall and winless in the league at 0-2.
The Hawks are back in action on Wednesday, December 2nd as the
Hawks host Stonehill for a 7:30 p.m. start at Stoutenburgh Gym.
