Manchester, N.H. (December 30) – Saint Anselm withstood an 18-0 second-half Bloomfield run and rallied from 10 points down for a 91-86 overtime victory over Bloomfield on Thursday afternoon at Stoutenburgh Gym. Senior All-American candidate Thomas Baudinet (Watertown, Conn.) led all scorers with his third career 40-point effort and second this season.
The Hawks jumped out to an early 12-8 lead behind 10 early points from Baudinet and built the lead to a 17-10 margin following another Baudinet three with 13:11 left. A 9-2 Bloomfield run, capped by a free throw from senior Gage Daye, tied the game at 19-19 though just 1:40 later. After the Hawks held a slim lead over the next six minutes, the Deacons rallied and took their biggest lead of the first period at 32-27 with 3:52 left. Trailing 34-33 with under a minute remaining in the half, Baudinet knocked down a three-pointer for the 36-34 Hawk edge at the break. Baudinet led all scorers with 21 points in the opening half.
Saint Anselm started on a 12-6 run in the second period and with 15:09 left held its biggest lead of the game at 48-40. Bloomfield answered in a big way however as the Deacons put together an 18-0 run over the next 3:57 and led 58-48 following a basket by Matt Wafula. The Hawks got back on track though on both ends of the court, holding Bloomfield to just two points over the next six minutes. Saint Anselm trailed by just two with 7:09 left and regained the advantage on a three from the corner from senior Pat Luptowski (Keene, N.H.). The teams traded the lead back and forth over the remainder of regulation, with neither team leading by more than three points. After Baudinet gave the Hawks the lead at 73-72 on a triple with 56 seconds left, Daye hit one of two free throws with 21.1 seconds left to send the game into the extra period.
Baudinet tied the game on at 75-75 on a free throw and gave the Hawks the lead for good on a basket with 3:41 left in the extra session. The Deacons cut the lead down to 81-80 with under two minutes left on the eighth three-pointer of the game from Steve Henderson, but that was as close as Bloomfield would get. The Hawks used a three-point play from Baudinet to push the lead to 85-80 with 41.3 seconds left and led by as many as six with 11.9 on the clock. Baudinet's free throw to cap the three-point play gave him his third career 40-point game and second straight 40-point outing at home.
Baudinet became the first player in Saint Anselm history to post three career 40+ point games, knocking down 8-of-13 three-point attempts in 43 minutes of play. He now sits in 10th place on the Saint Anselm all-time scoring list with 1,571 points, trailing Brendan McCarthy '96 by 24 points for ninth place.
Freshman Allen Harris (Roslindale, Mass.) added 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists in 40 minutes, along with a 17-point, 14-rebound double-double from junior Jack Keough (Owego, N.Y.). Freshman Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) posted a career-high 10 assists in his fifth straight start. Saint Anselm outrebounded the Deacons by a 55-37 margin, with the starting lineup combining for 40 boards.
Bloomfield was led by a career-high 24-point outburst by Henderson behind eight three-pointers, along with 20 points from Daye and 14 points from Ryan Rodrigues. The Deacons attempted 35 three-pointers, connecting on 12 of them.
With the win, the Hawks improve to a region-best 9-1 overall and have won six straight games, while the Deacons drop to 5-4 overall. Saint Anselm returns to league play on Sunday afternoon at 3 p.m., traveling to North Andover, Mass., to take on Merrimack in Northeast-10 action.
