ALBANY, N.Y. – Junior Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) poured in a game-high 28 points and senior John Nielsen (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) added a career-high 25 to lead the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team to Saturday evening's 113-73 victory against Chestnut Hill College in the 2013 Northeast-10 Challenge, presented by the Hilton Garden Inn and the Albany Medical Center, at the College of Saint Rose's Daniel P. Nolan Gymnasium.
The Hawks even their record on the season at 1-1, while the Griffins drop to 2-2. The 113 points are the sixth most ever in a single game for Saint Anselm and the most since it posted 107 against Post on Dec. 29, 2009.
Mabrey shot 10-for-14 from the floor, including a perfect 3-for-3 from long distance, and was 5 of 7 at the line to go along with four rebounds, three assists and a pair of steals. Nielsen, meanwhile, buried a career-best seven 3-pointers on just eight attempts and was a perfect 4-for-4 at the line. Neilsen also added a career-high four steals and three rebounds.
Sophomore Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) and freshman Isaiah Nelsen (North Andover, Mass.) were also in double figures for the Hawks. McCahey netted 12 points (3-6 FG; 1-4 3-FG; 5-6 FT) in addition to tallying eight rebounds, two assists and two steals, while Nelsen scored 11 points in just 19 minutes off the bench on efficient 5 of 6 shooting, including 1 of 2 from deep.
Jakeem Bogans led the Griffins with 19 points.
Leading 6-5 just over two minutes in, the Hawks ran off a 21-4 run that featured four treys from Nielsen to open up a 27-9 lead with 11:33 to go in the opening half. Nielsen's fifth and final trifecta of the half pushed the lead to 37-17 with 8:17 to play.
Chestnut Hill would whittle its deficit to 14 two minutes later, but a 15-4 spurt – highlighted by seven points from Mabrey and capped with a McCahey 3-pointer – gave the Hawks a 56-31 lead with 1:21 on the clock. A Noel Hightower three-point play would close the scoring and send the Griffins into the locker room, trailing 56-34.
Saint Anselm did not let its foot off the pedal as it opened the second half with another 15-4 run that was bookended by a pair of layups from junior Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) to widen the gap to 71-38 just 3:42 in.
The Hawks would eventually run the lead to 84-46 at the 11:52 mark, but a 13-0 run – with seven points from Bogans – would slash the Chestnut Hill deficit to 25 at 84-59 with 8:04 remaining.
Four free throws apiece from McCahey and Nielsen, as well as a triple from Mabrey, would stop the bleeding as part of an 11-0 run that put the game away at 95-59 with 6:23 left. The Griffins would climb back within 31, but the Hawks closed the game on a 9-0 run – with a 3-pointer from sophomore Kyle Romich (Groton, Mass.) providing the exclamation point to close the scoring and give the Hawks their largest lead of the game with 1:12 on the clock.
Senior Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) posted eight points (3-5 FG; 2-3 FT) and a game-high 12 assists. Freshman Pete Weston (Quebec City, Quebec) also chipped in eight points (2-7 FG; 1-5 3-FG; 3-3 FT).
The Hawks outshot the Griffins, 59.7 percent (37-62) to 44.8 percent (26-58), including 68.8 percent (22-32) to 46.4 percent (13-28) in the first half. Both teams shot well from beyond the arc, with the Hawks holding a slight .560-.500 edge, but they knocked down 10 more treys (14) than the Griffins. Saint Anselm held a slight edge on both the glass (33-32) and in the paint (42-40), but really cleaned up in the turnover department. The Hawks only turned it over 12 times, while forcing 21 Chestnut Hill turnovers for a 33-12 margin in points off takeaways.
The Hawks close out their trip to the Northeast-10 Challenge on Sunday, Nov. 17 at 3 p.m. when they take on Felician 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 Gymnasium. 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.
