MANCHESTER, N.H. – Sophomore Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) led six scorers in double figures with 25 points, but the 16th-ranked Saint Anselm College men's basketball team dropped a 102-96 slugfest against Bentley University in its season opener Wednesday evening at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks begin the year 0-1 on the season and in Northeast-10 play, while the Falcons run their record to 3-0, 1-0 NE-10.
McCahey knocked down 9 of 18 shots, including 5 of 8 from behind the arc, and made both of his free throws. Senior John Nielsen (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) poured in 17 points (6-12 FG; 5-10 3-FG) and reached career highs in both assists (5) and steals (3). Junior Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) netted 16 points (6-15 FG; 1-6 3-FG; 3-4 FT) and collected five rebounds. Sophomore Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) kicked in 13 points (5-13 FG; 1-3 3-FG; 1-2 FT) and three assists off the bench, while senior Dominic Borelli (Westbrook, Maine) added 13 points on perfect 6 of 6 shooting from the floor and 1 of 2 shooting at the line to go along with six boards. Junior Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) posted 11 points (5-11 FG; 1-2 FT), six rebounds and two blocks in his first start in a Saint Anselm uniform.
Jasper Grassa led Bentley with a career-high 35 points.
Trailing 6-5 less than three minutes in, the Hawks reeled off a 16-2 run that featured 11 points from McCahey to open up a 21-8 lead with 13:11 to go in the opening half. Saint Anselm would grab its largest lead of the game at 36-20 on a pair of McCahey free throws with 5:52 left, but a 13-2 stretch – with nine points from Grassa – pulled Bentley right back into the game at 38-33 with 3:51 on the clock. The Falcons would head into the locker room down, 45-40.
Bentley would open the second half on an 8-2 run that gave it a one-point lead 2:20 in, but baskets by Santo and McCahey would give the Hawks the lead right back at 51-48 with 16:58 remaining.
Saint Anselm would run its lead as high as seven in the second half, leading 68-61 with 11:46 to play, but Bentley would whittle the lead down to five and craft a 15-3 run – highlighted by 10 points from Grassa, including a pair of treys from the left wing to cap the stretch – to open up an 86-79 lead with 4:13 to go.
The gap widened to nine at 90-81 with 2:27 left, but the Hawks kept pushing back and would cut it to four (95-91) on a Joshua trey from the top of the key with 33 seconds to play. Bentley nudged its lead back to seven, but Saint Anselm again responded as a McCahey trifecta and a Nielsen layup, following a Tyler McFarland free throw, trimmed the deficit to 99-96 with 12 ticks on the clock.
JP Koury's free throw three seconds later made it a two-score game and Grassa's pair of freebies with just over a second remaining, following a missed shot at the other end, sealed the win.
Senior Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) handed out 11 assists for the Hawks.
Bentley outshot Saint Anselm, 53.7 percent (36-67) to 45.7 percent (37-81), including 61.3 percent (19-31) to 47.6 percent (20-42) in the second half. The Falcons also held advantages on the glass (46-38) and in the paint (52-36), while the Hawks only turned it over 13 times and forced 17 giveaways on the other end.
The Hawks return to action Saturday, Nov. 16 at 5 p.m. when they open the Northeast-10 Challenge at the College of Saint Rose against Chestnut Hill College. The next home game for the Hawks is Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 7:30 p.m. when they play host to Merrimack College at Stoutenburgh. Stay up-to-date with the latest news, including game previews and recaps, directly from the Saint Anselm College athletic department by liking us on Facebook and following us on Twitter @STAHawks.
