COLCHESTER, Vt. – Sophomore Allen Harris (Roslindale, Mass.) scored a game-high 21 points, but the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team was edged in the final minutes by Saint Michael's College, 66-65, Saturday afternoon at the Ross Sports Center.
The Hawks drop to 12-13 on the season, including 10-11 in Northeast-10 play, while the Purple Knights improve to 10-15, 9-12.
Harris shot 6 of 13 from the field, including 1 of 3 from deep, and was a perfect 8 of 8 at the line. The forward also ripped down eight rebounds, recorded two steals and handed out an assist. Freshman Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) netted 12 points on 5 of 10 shooting, including 2 of 5 from behind the arc, to go along with four rebounds and a pair of steals. Sophomore Dominic Borelli (Westbrook, Maine) joined his two teammates in double figures with 11 points on 4 of 8 shooting from the floor, including 2 of 3 from 3 (the two treys set a career high), and 1 of 1 at the stripe. Borelli also pulled down six boards and recorded a helper.
After relinquishing the lead for the first time in 35:42 with just 2:34 remaining in regulation, the Hawks found themselves down four when sophomore John Nielsen (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) drilled a 3-pointer that made it 66-65 with 4.0 seconds left. The Hawks fouled with 3.1 seconds left and Corey Crawford missed both free throws. Borelli grabbed the rebound, but the Hawks' final desperation heave came after time expired and Saint Michael's escaped with the victory.
Nielsen posted nine points on 3 of 5 shooting from deep to go along with two rebounds and an assist.
Tied at four, early on, a pair of free throws and a layup by Harris, followed by a Mabrey jumper, gave the Hawks the six-point lead with 16:39 remaining in the opening half. The lead was five later on when Mabrey buried a 3-pointer that pushed the score to 18-10 with 11:56 to play.
A basket by Tyler Schilling and a pair of free throws by Mike Holton Jr. sliced the Saint Michael's deficit to four, but a Borelli trey and a Harris layup pushed the lead to nine at 23-14 with 6:35 left. Crawford knocked down a jumper, but Harris answered with a 3-pointer that made it 26-16 with 5:23 to go.
A Crawford trey and a Mike Thompson layup trimmed the deficit to five before Nielsen sank a 3 of his own to make it 29-21 with 4:06 on the clock. Crawford buried another jumper, but it was Nielsen again knocking down the trifecta to push the lead to nine. Harris followed with a pair of free throws and the Hawks had their largest lead of the day to that point at 34-23 with 3:18 left.
Three free throws from Crawford were answered by a Borelli three-point play before Crawford closed the scoring with a jumper that cut Saint Anselm's halftime lead to 37-26. Crawford had 12 of his team-high 16 points in the opening half.
Crawford picked up where he left off as he opened the second-half scoring with a jumper, but a 3-pointer from Mabrey and a layup from sophomore Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) gave the Hawks their largest lead of the day at 42-30 with 17:20 remaining.
After the teams traded baskets, six straight points for the Purple Knights sliced their deficit in half and made it 44-38 with 13:57 left. The Hawks quickly pushed the lead back to 10 as a pair of 3-pointers by freshman Andre King (Springfield, Mass.) sandwiched a Travis Warech basket to make it 50-40 with 12:59 to play.
Saint Michael's roared back, however, scoring nine straight points to slice its deficit to a single point with 9:05 to go. The margin was still one about a minute later when consecutive Harris layups opened up some breathing room for the Hawks at 56-51 with 7:20 left.
Layups by Derek Knutty and Schilling trimmed the deficit back to one just over two minutes later. After James Cambronne answered a pair of Harris free throws with a jumper, Holton sank a 3-pointer that gave Saint Michael's the lead for the first time since 18:17 remained in the first half. Cambronne followed with a jumper and the Purple Knights led 62-58 with 1:38 on the clock.
Harris and Crawford would each knock down a pair of free throws before Mallios and Holton each sank a pair, as well, to make it 66-62 with 11.2 seconds to play. Nielsen's final 3 of the afternoon brought the Hawks within one, but that was as close as they would get.
Saint Michael's outshot Saint Anselm, 43.4 percent (23-53) to 37.9 percent (22-58), including 46.7 percent (14-30) to 34.6 percent (9-26) in the second half. Saint Anselm shot 43.5 percent (10-23) from 3 and was a perfect 11-for-11 at the line. The Purple Knights owned a 24-18 advantage in the paint and held a 34-32 edge on the glass. The Hawks turned the ball over 14 times, while forcing 17 turnovers.
The Hawks wrap up the regular season Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 7:30 p.m. when they travel to take on Stonehill College.
