Manchester, N.H. (February 13) -- Junior
Thomas Baudinet (Watertown, Conn.) scored a
game-high 31 points, keyed by six three-pointers, as Saint Anselm
knocked off in-state rival Franklin Pierce by an 89-62 final on
Saturday afternoon at Stoutenburgh Gym.
At halftime of the game, the Saint Anselm men's basketball
program recognized the 10th anniversary of the 1999-2000 team that
advanced to the Elite Eight and captured the Northeast-10
regular-season championship. The team featured five 1,000-point
scorers in Kris Tardio, Joe Ingegneri, Todd Manuel, Kevin
Sheehy and Mike Zieja.
The two teams went back and forth in the first half as the
Ravens jumped out to a quick 16-8 lead just 4:11 into the game. The
Hawks answered though with a 10-0 run of their own, capped by a
jumper from Greg Vetrano (Andover, Mass.), to take
the 18-16 edge.
Franklin Pierce held the lead at 32-27 with 7:30 left in the
opening period before Saint Anselm ended the half on a 16-4 scoring
run and took the 43-36 lead into the halftime break.
The second half started out much like the first and with 13:27
remaining, it was just a one-point Saint Anselm lead at 52-51. The
Hawks had enough though as the lead quickly went to double figures
following a three-point play from Hakeem Williams (Spring
Valley, N.Y.) with 6:47 remaining. From that point on, the
Hawks held the Ravens to just four points over the remainder of the
game to come away with the lopsided 27-point victory. The Hawks
dropped in 11 three-pointers in the game, including seven in the
second half alone.
Baudinet netted 31 points and moves over the 1,200-point mark
now with 1,206 career points, ranking 26th on the all-time Saint
Anselm scoring list. Vetrano notched a 15-point, 11-assist
double-double, with his 11 assists a season high. Junior
Pat Luptowski (Keene, N.H.) had 14 points,
including a trio of three-pointers and Williams posted 10 points
off the bench.
Terrell Ray had a 16-point, 10-rebound
double-double and was a perfect 7-for-7 from the field to lead the
Ravens. Eric Jean-Guillaume also finished with 12
points on the day to go along with a team-best three steals. Junior
Kinard Dozier had nine points and in the process,
surpassed the 1,000-point plateau for his career at Franklin
Pierce.
With the win, Saint Anselm improves to 16-8 overall, 12-7 in the
Northeast-10 and 8-3 at home this season. Franklin Pierce drops to
11-13 overall and 6-13 in the league. The Hawks also sit in a
three-way tie for fourth place in the Northeast-10 standings with
UMass Lowell and Le Moyne with three regular-season games
remaining. The team is back in action on Wednesday night, traveling
to No. 25 Stonehill for a 7:30 p.m. start in Easton, Mass.
