Easton, Mass. (February 17) --
Despite a 26-point effort by junior Thomas Baudinet
(Watertown, Conn.), the Saint Anselm men's basketball team
came up just short in a 58-56 loss at No. 22 Stonehill on Wednesday
night at Merkert Gym.
In the first half, the Hawks jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead in
the first four minutes, capped by a three-pointer from Baudinet.
Stonehill answered with a 14-2 run over the next 6:05 though and
after a layup by Ivan Almeida (Santiago, Cape
Verde). The lead swelled to as many as 11 on a number of
occasions before the Skyhawks took a 28-19 lead into halftime.
The Saint Anselm offense settled in over the opening minutes of
the second half and behind eight early points from Pat
Luptowski (Keene, N.H.), the Hawks pulled within five at
37-32 with 15:05 left. With the lead back to six at 44-38, Saint
Anselm went on a 7-0 run and after a Baudinet three, the Hawks
seized the lead at 45-44 with 7:55, forcing a Stonehill timeout.
The Hawks made it a 51-48 lead with 5:28 left on another Baudinet
basket as he scored nine points in a row for Saint Anselm.
Stonehill cut the lead back down to two on a free throw from
Randall Stallworth (Toms River, N.J.) and tied the
game at 51 on two free throws from senior A.J. Rudowitz
(Monroe Township, N.J.) with 3:38 left.
After Branimir Zeko (Mississauga, Ontario) put
the Hawks back on top at 53-51, Rudowitz made the first of two free
throws, but got his own rebound on the second. Rudowitz converted
on his second chance with a layup at 2:31 for a 54-53 lead. After
two missed Saint Anselm free throws and a missed Stonehill shot,
the Skyhawks recovered a loose ball with 35.3 seconds left and
called a timeout up 54-53.
After a couple of missed opportunities by both teams, junior
Daniel Heppert (Richmond, Va.) hit two free throws
at the 7.7 mark to make it a three-point game at 56-53. After a
Hawk turnover, Heppert hit two more free throws to make it a
five-point lead for Stonehill. Baudinet hit a three with 0.3 left
on the clock, but the Skyhawks came away with the two-point win.
With the loss, Saint Anselm falls to 16-9 overall and 12-8 in
the Northeast-10, while Stonehill is now 21-4 overall and 18-2 in
league play. Saint Anselm is back in action on Saturday, February
20 as the Hawks host UMass Lowell on Senior Day. Prior to the game,
the Hawks will honor three seniors (Mike Owczarek,
Greg Vetrano and Branimir Zeko)
who will be playing in their final regular-season home game of
their career.
