New York, N.Y. (February 10) -- Saint Anselm
dropped an 85-81 overtime final at Pace University on Tuesday
evening at the Civic Center Gymnasium in Manhattan in Northeast-10
men's basketball action. The two teams split the regular-season
series, with each team winning at home.
Pace jumped out to an early 14-9 lead and held the momentum in
the early going. The Hawks battled back though and took the lead at
25-24 with 6:29 left in the first half after a pair of free throws
by Giovanni Carenza (East Hanover, N.J.). The two
teams traded the lead seven times in the first period as neither
team held a significant advantage. The Hawks held as many as a
three-point lead with 3:11 left a pair of free throws by
Thomas Baudinet (Watertown, Conn.). That lead was
quickly answered though as Justin Alston nailed a
three from the corner to tie things up again at 32-32. Pace took a
slight 36-35 advantage into the halftime break after a free throw
from John Mariano (Naugatuck, Conn.) in the final
seconds of the half cut the lead down to one point at the break.
Pace came out firing in the second half with a 9-0 run over the
first 2:25, capped by a layup from Adrian Mills,
for a 45-35 advantage. After a Saint Anselm timeout, the Hawks
pulled back to within three points at 45-42 after a putback by
Carenza. After another quick Setter run got the lead back to 51-42,
Carenza nailed a jumper to end the scoring spurt.
The Setters pushed the lead back into double figures before
Saint Anselm put up a rally to pull within three points at 57-54.
Junior guard Greg Vetrano (Andover, Mass.) hit the
three-pointer to get the visitors within three with 9:25 left on
the clock. The Hawks pulled to as close as two on a pair of free
throws by Branimir Zeko (Mississauga, Ontario) and
again on a Zeko layup a few minutes later. Saint Anselm regained
the lead at 63-62 with three-point play by Jack Keough
(Owego, N.Y.) with 4:57 on the clock. The visitors forced
the Setters to take a timeout with just under four minutes left as
the Hawks pushed the lead to three following a putback by
Hakeem Williams (Spring Valley, N.Y.).
The two teams traded three-pointers in the final minutes of
regulation before Carenza gave the Hawks a 73-70 lead with just
1:09 left. Pace came right back though as Mills rolled in an
off-balance shot just over the front of the rim to make it a 73-72
game with 55.4 seconds left. After a Saint Anselm miss, the Setters
came the other way and Carlos Howard hit a
three-pointer from in front of the Setter bench to make it 75-73
with 16.6 on the clock. After the ball went out of bounds, the
Hawks inbounded with 3.1 seconds left and Vetrano found Williams
under the basket for an easy layup to send the game into overtime.
In the overtime, the two teams went back and forth, with neither
team holding more than a three-point lead. After a layup from Zeko
tied the game at 81-81 with 1:56 left, Wilson knocked down a pair
of free throws for the 83-81 lead with 1:22 remaining. After a
Saint Anselm turnover on the following possession, Pace inbounded
and the Hawks sent Wesley Dunning to the free
throw line for a pair of free throws. Dunning made the second for
the 84-81 Pace lead with just 12.5 left. The Hawks were unable to
get the equalizer though as the Setters hit one free throw in the
final seconds to seal the win.
Williams led the Hawks with 21 points as five Saint Anselm
players finished in double figures. Mills led Pace with 18, along
with a 15-point, 11-rebound double-double by Wilson.
With the loss, the Hawks fall to 13-10 overall and 8-10 in the
Northeast-10, while Pace is now 9-14 overall and 7-11 in league
play. Saint Anselm is back in action on Saturday afternoon as the
team travels to Le Moyne for a 3 p.m. start in Syracuse.
