MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Jack Keough (Owego, N.Y.) scored 13 points, but the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team fell to Adelphi University, 62-51, Saturday afternoon at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks lose their second straight for the first time in nearly a month as they drop to 8-11 overall and 6-9 in Northeast-10 play. The Panthers improve to 14-5, 11-4 NE-10.
Keough, who is now just 10 points shy of being the 45th Hawk in program history to join the 1,000-point club, was 4 of 10 from the field and 5 of 8 at the line to go along with six rebounds. Junior James Morse (Arundel, Maine) and freshman Andre King (Springfield, Mass.) were also in double figures with 10 points each. Morse was 3 of 7 from behind the arc and 1 of 2 at the line, while matching his career high with seven boards, making two steals and a recording a pair of blocks. King, who produced his first double-digit scoring performance since Nov. 19, was 4 of 7 from the floor, including 2 of 4 from deep.
Saint Anselm trailed 7-6 early on when back-to-back jumpers by freshman Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.), followed by a King 3-pointer, gave the Hawks an 11-7 lead with 11:32 remaining in the opening half. Adelphi answered with a 9-0 run, which included four points from John Calarco and three from Robert Johnson, to grab a 16-11 lead with just under eight minutes to play.
After the teams traded baskets, a Morse 3 trimmed the deficit to just a pair at 18-16 with 4:08 remaining. A Calarco layup pushed it back to four before the teams traded baskets again to make it 22-18. Sophomore Dominic Borelli (Westbrook, Maine) made one of two at the line before classmate Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) knocked down a 3-pointer to knot the game at 22 with 1:43 on the clock.
A King jumper gave the Hawks a two-point lead with just over a minute to play, and after a Chris Ranglin jumper tied it with 15 seconds left, King dropped in a layup with two seconds on the clock and the Hawks went into the break with a 26-24 advantage.
The Hawks came out of the locker room on a 7-2 run – sparked by a Morse trey just 11 seconds in – that opened their lead to the largest of the game at 33-26 with 18:04 remaining. The Hawks led by six, 35-29, when Adelphi used a 13-0 run – with six points from Bradley Simpson – to grab a 42-35 lead with 10:51 left.
Saint Anselm responded with an 8-2 run – highlighted by 3-pointers from sophomore Allen Harris (Roslindale, Mass.) and King – to trim the deficit to just one at 44-43 with 8:36 to go. Richard Harkins answered the bell for Adelphi, however, scoring six straight points to give the Panthers a 50-43 lead with 7:30 to play.
A Mabrey jumper, followed by a pair of Keough free throws, whittled it down to three, but a Ranglin free throw and a Harkins 3 pushed the lead back to seven at 54-47 with 3:10 left. The lead was still seven at 58-51 when Harkins knocked down a pair of free throws and dropped in a layup to close the scoring.
Mabrey tallied seven points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Harris and Mallios each netted five points apiece.
Adelphi outshot Saint Anselm, 44 percent (22-50) to 31 percent (18-58), including 48 percent (12-25) to 29.2 percent (7-24) from downtown. The Panthers also owned advantages on the glass (40-26) and in the paint (22-12), but turned the ball over 20 times. The Hawks only committed 12 turnovers.
Harkins led Adelphi with a game-high 19 points.
The Hawks return to action Tuesday, Jan. 31 at 7:30 p.m. when they play host to crosstown rival Southern New Hampshire University at Stoutenburgh.
