Bloomfield, N.J. (December 10) -- A second-half
rally came up just short as Saint Anselm dropped a 77-73 final to
Bloomfield in non-conference play on Thursday night at the Deacon
Center. The Hawks got within two late before dropping the
four-point final.
In the first half, Bloomfield jumped out to a quick 9-3
advantage less than three minutes into the game. Saint Anselm
answered though with a 17-5 run over the next six and a half
minutes to seize the lead at 20-14. The Hawks increased that lead
to as many as eight points with 5:26 left in the opening period as
Hakeem Williams (Spring Valley, N.Y.) knocked down
a three-pointer to make it a 30-22 game. The Deacons continued to
fight though and after consecutive layups by Matt
Wafula and Robert Young, the game was
tied at 35 with 1:12 left in the half. The Hawks took a 37-35 lead
heading into the halftime break though as Oliver Hunter
(Bedford, N.H.) scored on a layup off a turnover with 32
seconds remaining.
The opening four minutes of the second period belonged to
Bloomfield as the Deacons went on a 15-2 run for a 50-39 lead. That
run was stopped by five straight Saint Anselm points though as a
jumper by Pat Luptowski (Keene, N.H.) made the
score 50-44 with 14:45 remaining. After the lead went back to nine,
the Hawks answered with another quick 6-0 spurt and trailed just
53-50 and forced a Bloomfield timeout at the 12:18 mark. Out of the
timeout, Greg Vetrano (Andover, Mass.) made it a
one-point game at 53-52 before the Deacons pushed the lead back to
six with under 10 minutes left.
Two free throws by Jack Keough (Owego, N.Y.)
and a fastbreak layup from Keough got the Hawks back to within
62-60 with 7:45 left. The swings by each side continued and with
4:46 left, the Deacons called a timeout up 71-66 following a
three-pointer from Gage Daye. The Hawks cut the
lead down to 71-69 with 2:23 left on a third straight free throw
from Hunter before a Daye runner in the lane pushed the edge back
to 73-69 in favor of the Deacons.
Keough hit another pair from the line to cut the lead down two
with 1:31 left and had a chance to tie the game or take the lead
for the first time since the first half. A three-pointer went off
the front rim though and it was Wilson Pilarte
that hit a pair of free throws for Bloomfield for a 75-71 lead with
29.4 seconds remaining. Vetrano made it a 75-73 game before
Bloomfield's Daye had a chance to push the lead back to four with
15.6 seconds left. Daye missed the first of a one-and-one though
and the Hawks pulled down the rebound, calling timeout with 12.2
seconds left. The Hawks turned the ball over on an offensive foul
with under 10 seconds though as the Deacons came away with the
four-point victory after adding a late free throw.
Vetrano led the Hawks with 17 points and five assists, while
Keough added 15 points. Hunter was in double figures as well with
13 points to go along with a team-high eight rebounds.
With the loss, Saint Anselm falls to 4-4 overall on the season
and is off now until December 21st when the Hawks host Post
University at Stoutenburgh Gym.
