MANCHESTER, N.H. – Freshman Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) scored 15 points, but the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team dropped a 74-70 decision to Southern Connecticut State University on Tuesday evening at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks see their five-game winning streak snapped as they fall to 7-9 on the season, including 5-7 in Northeast-10 play, while the Owls improve to 8-8, 6-6 NE-10.
Mabrey was 6-for-15 from the field, including 3 of 8 from behind the arc. Sophomore Allen Harris (Roslindale, Mass.) netted 12 points on 5 of 8 shooting to go along with seven rebounds and six assists, which match his career high he set against Assumption College on Saturday. Junior James Morse (Arundel, Maine) posted 11 points on 4 of 11 shooting, including 3 of 9 from deep, while pulling down three rebounds and handing out three assists. Senior Jack Keough (Owego, N.Y.) hit for 10 points on 4 of 9 shooting from the floor and a perfect 2 of 2 shooting from the line and added five boards and four assists.
Tied at 68 with 2:04 on the clock, Harris hit one of two at the line to give the Hawks a one-point lead. Luke Houston came down on the next possession and dropped in a layup that gave the Owls a 70-69 lead with 1:45 to play.
Dominique Langston would hit one of two from the stripe to bump the lead to two before Harris cut it back to one with a free throw. Langston would again hit one of two and the Owls led 72-70 with 18 seconds left.
The Hawks pushed the ball across midcourt and called timeout with 12 ticks on the clock. The Hawks drove to the hoop, but the ball was stolen away by Tylon Smith with two seconds left and he would sink two free throws at the other end to seal it.
Southern Connecticut led 7-2 early on when a modest 5-2 run – capped by a Mabrey 3-pointer – pulled the Hawks to within 9-7 with 16:17 remaining in the opening half. Still trailing by two a minute and a half later, Morse drained a 3 off a pass from sophomore Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) to give Saint Anselm its first lead of the night at 12-11 with 14:47 left.
The Hawks were still up one later in the half when seven straight points from the Owls gave them a 28-22 lead with 7:28 to go. Another Morse trey cut the deficit in half before a Mabrey layup made it a one-point game at 28-27 with 5:24 remaining. The Owls would go into the break with a 37-36 lead after Morse closed the first-half scoring with another 3-pointer with 33 seconds on the clock.
Still a one-point contest 5:30 into the second half, Mabrey and classmate Andre King (Springfield, Mass.) would knock down back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Hawks a 49-44 lead with 13:46 to go. The lead was still five when layups by Keough and sophomore John Nielsen (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) gave the Hawks their largest lead of the game at 65-56 with 7:08 to play.
Southern Connecticut responded by going on a 12-2 run, which was capped by a Greg Langston 3 that gave the Owls a 68-67 lead with 2:44 remaining. King would hit one of two at the line eight seconds later to knot the game.
Sophomore Dominic Borelli (Westbrook, Maine) posted nine points, six boards and two assists.
Saint Anselm narrowly outshot Southern Connecticut, 43.5 percent (27-62) to 43.3 percent (26-60), while the Owls held a 47.1 percent (8-17) to 36 percent (9-25) advantage from beyond the arc. The Hawks held a 37-36 advantage on the glass, as well as a 32-28 advantage in the paint.
Greg Langston and Trevon Hamlet scored 19 and 18 points, respectively, for the Owls.
The Hawks return to action Saturday, Jan. 21 at 3 p.m. when they hit the road to take on Le Moyne College. The next home game for the Hawks is Saturday, Jan. 28 at 3:30 p.m. when they play host to Adelphi University at Stoutenburgh.
