NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Freshman Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) scored a game-high 17 points, but the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team suffered a 67-60 defeat against Merrimack College on Wednesday evening at Bert Hammel Court.
The Hawks see their two-game win streak snapped as they drop to 10-12 on the season, including 8-10 in Northeast-10 play. The Warriors sweep the season series from the Hawks as they improve to 12-10, 9-9.
Mabrey was 7-for-17 from the field, including 2-for-5 from behind the arc, and 1-for-1 at the line.
The Hawks jumped out to an early 6-2 lead after a pair of baskets by sophomore Allen Harris (Roslindale, Mass.), but Merrimack would score four straight to knot it at six 4:04 into the opening half. Saint Anselm trailed 9-7 when an 8-0 run gave the Hawks a 15-9 lead with 11:16 to go.
Saint Anselm still led by six, 18-12, when Merrimack reeled off an 11-2 run that gave the Warriors a 23-20 lead with 5:11 to play. After a layup by sophomore Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) sliced it to one, the Warriors scored four straight to grab a 27-22 lead with 2:16 on the clock.
Sophomore John Nielsen (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) drained a 3-pointer that sliced the deficit to a pair, but two Tyler Young jumpers closed the scoring and Merrimack took a 31-25 lead into the break.
After an Aaron Strothers basket pushed the Merrimack lead to eight to start the second half, back-to-back 3-pointers from Mabrey and junior James Morse (Arundel, Maine) sliced the Saint Anselm deficit to 33-31 with 17:43 remaining.
Baskets by Wayne Mack and Roland Davis pushed the Merrimack lead to six at 37-31 just over a minute later. The lead was seven when a Morse trey and a pair of Harris free throws trimmed it to a pair at 42-40 with 14:02 left to play.
Mike Clifford nudged the lead to four with a layup before Andre King (Springfield, Mass.) drained his third trey of the night to make it 44-43 with 11:50 left.
The Merrimack lead was still one at 48-47 when a three-point play from Strothers made it a four-point game with eight minutes to go. Mallios answered with a three-point play of his own, however, and the Hawks were back within one at 51-50 with 6:16 remaining.
After the teams traded baskets, Mabrey followed a Clifford layup with a huge three-point play that tied the game at 55 with 3:46 to go. Merrimack answered with a 9-2 run – with four points from Strothers – to take a 64-57 lead with 48 seconds on the clock. Mabrey sliced it to four with a 3-pointer just eight seconds later, but Merrimack would make three of their four shots at the line the rest of the way to seal it.
King, who was 3-for-6 from deep, and Mallios, who was 3-for-7 from the floor and a perfect 3 of 3 at the line, each had nine points. Mallios tallied five assists, three rebounds and two steals. Harris recorded eight points, five boards and three steals.
Merrimack outshot Saint Anselm, 55.1 percent (27-49) to 37.3 percent (22-59), including 40 percent (2-5) to 36.4 percent (8-22) from long range. The Warriors held a 33-29 edge on the glass, and controlled the paint by a 32-20 margin. The Hawks turned the ball over 14 times and forced 19 Merrimack turnovers as they outscored the Warriors, 22-10, in points off turnovers.
Davis led Merrimack with 16 points, while Strothers and Mack each netted 15.
The Hawks return to action Saturday, Feb. 11 at 3:30 p.m. when they play host to Franklin Pierce University at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
