MANCHESTER, N.H. – Freshman Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) scored 17 points and sophomore John Nielsen (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) drained a 3-pointer with 9.7 seconds left in regulation as the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team earned a 69-67 victory against Franklin Pierce University on Saturday afternoon at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks improve to 11-12 on the season, including 9-10 in Northeast-10 play, while the Ravens, who were tied atop the conference standings entering the day, fall to 17-6, 13-6.
Mabrey, who scored 13 points on 5 of 10 shooting, including 2 of 4 from behind the arc, in the first half, recorded five rebounds, three steals and an assist. Sophomore Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) notched 13 points on 6 of 9 shooting, including 1 of 2 from deep, to go along with four assists, three rebounds and three steals. Classmate Allen Harris (Roslindale, Mass.) registered 12 points on 5 of 10 shooting from the floor, including a perfect 1 of 1 from downtown, and 1 of 2 at the line, while adding four boards, three assists and three steals. Fellow sophomore Dominic Borelli (Westbrook, Maine) was also in double figures with 10 points as he shot 3 of 7 overall, 1 of 1 from 3 and a perfect 3 of 3 at the stripe, while posting three rebounds and a block.
Trailing 67-64 with 24 seconds remaining in regulation, the Hawks climbed within one on a driving layup by Mallios. After the Hawks called timeout, the Ravens turned it over off the inbounds and the Hawks once again called timeout to draw up a final play with 22 seconds left.
As the clock ticked down, Mallios drove to the hoop and found Nielsen, who had just subbed into the game during the prior timeout, at the left elbow for a 3-pointer that Nielsen knocked down with 9.7 seconds remaining and the Hawks went on top, 69-67. Franklin Pierce quickly pushed the ball up the court, but Eric Jean-Guillaume's deep 3-pointer with a second left was no good and Saint Anselm earned the victory.
Nielsen tallied seven points, four rebounds and a pair of assists.
After back-to-back baskets by Mabrey and a layup by Mallios, the Hawks led 6-0 just 2:43 into the contest. Once the teams traded baskets, however, the Ravens scored seven straight points to grab a 9-8 lead with just under 14 minutes remaining in the opening half.
Mabrey answered with a 3-pointer that gave the Hawks a two-point lead, but Franklin Pierce scored six straight to regain the lead at 15-11 with 12:00 to play. Mabrey answered again with a trey before senior Hakeem Williams (Spring Valley, N.Y.) drilled a 3 of his own to put the Hawks up 17-15 with 11:03 on the clock.
The Ravens responded again, however, this time with eight straight points to grab a 23-17 advantage at the 9:23 mark. After a layup by junior Quinn Woodhouse (Gaylord, Mich.) later cut the deficit to a pair, back-to-back 3-pointers from Curtis Christian gave Franklin Pierce its largest lead of the afternoon at 32-24 with 5:41 to go.
The Hawks would use a 7-2 run, which was capped by another Williams 3, to climb within 34-31 with 2:13 remaining, but Franklin Pierce would score four of the final five points in the half to take a 38-32 lead into the break.
After the teams traded buckets to begin the second half, baskets by Mabrey, Nielsen and Woodhouse knotted the game at 40 with 15:14 to play. Adrianos Vourliotakis Perdikaris would put the Ravens ahead on a layup, but a 3-pointer by Mallios and a three-point play from Borelli gave the Hawks a 46-42 lead with 12:31 left.
The lead was still four at 49-45 when Borelli's first 3-pointer of the year extended the lead to seven midway through the half. Following a free throw from Adedamola Abu, a Borelli layup with 8:29 remaining gave the Hawks their largest lead of the contest at 54-46.
Jean-Guillaume answered with a 3-pointer and a jumper on consecutive possessions, before Christian dropped in a layup to make it a one-point game at 54-53 with 6:48 to go. The teams would continue to trade points until a Mallios layup stretched the Hawks' lead to four at 64-60 with 2:21 to play.
Following a pair of Ellis Cooper free throws, Abu gave the Ravens the lead with a three-point play. Jean-Guillaume then converted a breakaway layup that gave Franklin Pierce a 67-64 lead with 35 seconds left and set up the Saint Anselm dramatics.
Franklin Pierce outshot Saint Anselm, 45.6 percent (26-57) to 42.2 percent (27-64), but the Hawks outshot the Ravens, 38.1 percent (8-21) to 28.6 percent (6-21) from behind the arc, as well as 48.4 percent (15-31) to 37 percent (10-27) in the second half. Rebounding was even at 35 apiece, while Franklin Pierce held a slim 30-28 edge in the paint. Saint Anselm turned the ball over 14 times, while forcing 15 Raven turnovers.
Jean-Guillaume led the Ravens with 18 points, including the 1,000th of his career, which he reached on a jumper that closed the first-half scoring with 15 seconds left.
The Hawks return to action Tuesday, Feb. 14 at 7:30 p.m. when they wrap up their home slate by playing host to the University of Massachusetts-Lowell at Stoutenburgh.
