ALBANY, N.Y. – Freshman Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) netted 26 points in his first collegiate game and senior Jack Keough (Owego, N.Y.) nearly notched a double-double with 22 points and nine rebounds, but the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team suffered a 104-99 defeat against 23rd-ranked C.W. Post at the Saint Rose Tip-Off Tournament on Saturday evening at Nolan Gymnasium.
The Hawks open the season 0-1 for the first time since 2003, while the Pioneers, who were ranked 23rd in the Division II Bulletin Preseason Poll, improve to 1-0.
Mabrey knocked down 9 of his 13 shots, including 4 of 7 from behind the arc. Keough was 8 of 14 from the floor and added five assists and two steals in 35 minutes of work. Junior James Morse (Arundel, Maine) put together the best game of his career with a career-high 18 points on 6 of 13 shooting, a career-best seven boards and a career-high tying four assists. Sophomore Allen Harris (Roslindale, Mass.) tallied 11 points, eight rebounds, two assists and two steals, while freshman Andre King (Springfield, Mass.) came off the bench to add 13 points on 4 of 11 shooting, including 3 of 5 from deep.
Trailing by 14, 100-86, with 3:20 left in regulation, the Hawks went on a 13-1 run to pull within 101-99 with 21 ticks on the clock. A Morse layup ignited the run before baskets by Keough and Mabrey sliced it to eight. A 3-pointer by Mabrey and a three-point play by Keough made it 101-98 before Harris made one of two at the line.
After Vaughn Allen made one of two on the other end to make it a three-point game, Vince Rosario came up with a big steal and knocked down two free throws with nine seconds remaining to seal the win.
Saint Anselm shot 44.3 percent (35-79) from the field, including 40 percent (10-25) from deep, but the Pioneers hit on 57.3 percent (43-75) of their shots and controlled the glass by a 54-34 margin. The Hawks only turned the ball over eight times, while forcing 16 C.W. Post turnovers.
The Hawks led 16-13 nearly six minutes into the game when the Pioneers ripped off a 17-2 run to take a 30-18 lead with 8:57 to go in the opening half. Saint Anselm still trailed by 12, 49-37, with 1:06 remaining when King and Mabrey 3-pointers bookended a Terry Coleman jumper to close the half and send the teams into the locker rooms with C.W. Post holding a 51-43 lead.
Saint Anselm cut its deficit to seven on a 3-pointer by sophomore Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) just 3:08 into the second half, but seven straight points from Allen and two more from Stefan Bonneau made it 64-50 at the 15:30 mark.
Later in the half, Tobin Carberry knocked down a triple that pushed the lead to 89-73 with 7:37 to play before the Hawks used a 10-0 run to climb back within six at 89-83 with 5:35 remaining. The Pioneers answered by scoring eight straight and after a Mabrey 3 snapped the run, Rosario matched it to make it 100-86.
Carberry scored 22 points, while Allen poured in 21 and ripped down 13 rebounds. Bonneau added 20 points, five boards and six assists. Amir Tarif notched a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds off the bench.
The Hawks return to action Sunday, Nov. 13 at 2 p.m. when they take on Concordia (N.Y.) in their final game at the Saint Rose Tip-Off Tournament. The next home game for the Hawks will be Wednesday, Nov. 16 at 7:30 p.m. when they open both their home and Northeast-10 slates by playing host to Stonehill College at Stoutenburgh.
