Manchester, N.H. (January 9) -- Saint Anselm
held off a second-half Adelphi rally, using good defense and clutch
free throw shooting, to come away with a 78-69 win over No. 25
Adelphi on Saturday afternoon at Stoutenburgh Gym.
Adelphi held the lead for the first 12 minutes of the game and
led by as many as six before the Hawks tied the game at 20 on a
hoop by senior Branimir Zeko (Mississauga,
Ontario). Saint Anselm took the lead for the first time at
23-22 on a three by Greg Vetrano (Andover, Mass.)
with 7:11 left and pushed that lead to six points just minutes
later. After the Panthers cut the edge to one with 1:11 left,
Vetrano nailed two free throws to make it a 32-29 Hawk lead heading
to the halftime break.
Saint Anselm came out firing in the opening of the second half,
knocking down four three-pointers in the first 4:25 and leading by
as many as 12 points. The Hawks still held a 48-37 lead with 13:28
on the clock after a layup from Quinn Woodhouse (Gaylord,
Mich.) before a 13-2 Adelphi run. That scoring run, over a
span of 4:10, was capped by a three from Rob Johnson (New
Rochelle, N.Y.) and tied the game at 50-50 with 9:18 left
in the game.
The Hawks regrouped though after a timeout and never trailed
again in the game. A jumper from Thomas Baudinet
(Watertown, Conn.) gave the hosts the lead out of the
timeout and that advantage swelled to as many as 11 over the
remainder of the half.
The meeting is the 23rd overall between the two teams, with
Adelphi now holding a narrow 12-11 advantage over the Hawks. The
win is the second of the season for Saint Anselm over a
nationally-ranked opponent as the team is 2-0 over opponents in the
top 25 this year. Earlier in the season at Stoutenburgh Gym,
the Hawks knocked off then-No. 2 ranked Bentley by a 72-69 final.
Vetrano led the team with 22 points, hitting 12-of-14 from the
free throw line to go along with five assists and two steals.
Baudinet put up his seventh 20+ point game of the season, finishing
up with 21 points and three assists. Junior Pat Luptowski
(Keene, N.H.) had 13 points and seven rebounds, along with
an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double by Zeko, to go along with two
blocks in 20 minutes.
Richard Byrd (Central Islip, N.Y.) led the
Panthers with 23 points, including 10-for-11 from the free throw
line, along with 17 points by Johnson.
With the win, the Hawks are now 8-6 overall and 4-5 in the
Northeast-10. Adelphi had its nine-game winning streak snapped and
falls to 14-2 overall and 7-2 in the league. Saint Anselm is back
in action on Tuesday, January 12th as the Hawks travel to Pace for
a 7:30 p.m. start in Pleasantville, N.Y.
