ALBANY, N.Y. – Sophomore Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) dropped in 23 points, but the 16th-ranked Saint Anselm College men's basketball team suffered an 82-79 loss against Felician 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 dip to 1-2 on the young season, while the Golden Falcons improve to 2-3.
McCahey shot 8-for-14 from the floor, including 3-for-5 from downtown and 4-for-7 at the line, while filling the stat sheet with eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and a block. Junior Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.), coming off a 28-point performance in Saturday's 113-73 win against Chestnut Hill, added 16 points (5-14; 6-6 FT) and four rebounds. Senior John Nielsen (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) netted 11 points (4-8 FG; 3-6 3-FG), while junior Chris Santo (Cherry Jill, N.J.) also reached double figures with 10 points (2-7 FG; 1-3 3-FG; 5-8 FT) and five boards.
Tim Massado paced Felician, which led wire-to-wire, with a game-high 25 points.
Saint Anselm trailed 80-73 with 1:29 left when a 3-pointer and a layup from McCahey slashed the deficit to just a pair with 47 seconds on the clock. After Felician missed a 3 with 18 seconds left, senior Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He was sent to the line where he made one of two to cut it to 80-79 with 10 ticks left.
The Hawks fouled on the inbound and Massado drained a pair at the stripe with seven seconds remaining to push the lead to three. Felician played tight defense on Saint Anselm's final possession and the shot came after the final buzzer as the Golden Falcons escaped with the win.
Mallios finished with eight points (2-14 FG; 1-4 3-FG; 3-4 FT), six assists, four steals and four rebounds.
Felician outshot Saint Anselm, 56.7 percent (34-60) to 40.6 percent (26-64), including 56.3 percent (9-16) to 34.8 percent (8-23) from distance. The Hawks lost despite holding a 38-35 edge on the glass and winning the turnover battle (8-12). They also had more second-chance points (18-6), while the Golden Falcons won the paint by a 44-30 margin.
Felician led 8-6 early on when a 7-1 spurt – capped by a J.R. Pringley 3-pointer, opened up a 15-7 lead nearly six minutes in for the Golden Falcons. Back-to-back 3s from Santo and McCahey trimmed the Saint Anselm deficit to two, but treys from Anthony Obery and Jeyvi Miavivululu pushed the lead right back to eight at 21-13 with 11:53 remaining in the opening half.
Another McCahey triple and one of two at the line from Santo made it a four-point game, but 12 straight points – including the first 10 from Massado – put Felician in control at 33-17 with 6:46 to go. A Mabrey tip-in and a Nielsen trifecta would cut it to 11, before a quick 8-2 burst would give Felician its largest lead of the day at 41-24 with 3:45 on the clock. Saint Anselm responded by closing the half on an 8-2 run of its own – with four points from McCahey – to trim the halftime deficit to 43-32.
After Felician ran the lead to 49-34 within the first two minutes of the second half, back-to-back baskets from Mabrey fueled a 9-0 run that was capped by a Nielsen 3-pointer, which slashed the Saint Anselm deficit to 49-43 with 16:59 remaining.
The Golden Falcons responded with seven straight points and eventually went on top by as many as 14 (61-47) with 12:36 left, but a 13-2 stretch – with seven points from senior Dominic Borelli (Westbrook, Maine) – brought the Hawks within three at 63-60 with 8:34 to go.
Felician would again hit back and grow its lead to nine (70-61) with 6:21 left, but a 10-3 run would allow Saint Anselm to climb back within a pair with just over three minutes remaining. The Golden Falcons answered with a 7-2 stretch that was capped by a Massado 3 to make it 80-73 with 1:40 left and set up the furious final minute and a half.
Borelli posted nine points (4-5 FG; 1-4 FT), nine rebounds and a pair of blocks.
The Hawks return to action Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 7:30 p.m. when they take on crosstown rival Southern New Hampshire University at the SNHU Fieldhouse. The next home game for the Hawks is Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 7:30 p.m. 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.
