MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior John Nielsen (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) splashed five of his six 3-point attempts en route to a game-high 21 points, as the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team closed out 2013 with an 84-71 victory against Post University on Sunday afternoon at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks, who have won six of their last seven contests, improve to 7-3 on the season and 7-0 all-time against Post. The Eagles fall to 2-8.
Nielsen was an efficient 6-for-7 from the floor and a perfect 4-for-4 at the line, to go along with five rebounds and four assists. Junior Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) backed Nielsen's performance with 18 points (7-12 FG; 2-3 3-FG; 2-2 FT), three rebounds and two assists. Classmate Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) netted 16 points (5-9 FG; 6-8 FT) and added six boards and a pair of steals, while sophomore Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) also posted 16 points (5-12 FG; 1-3 3-FG; 5-5 FT) and pulled down five rebounds.
Derrick Strong and Josh Tatum led Post with 12 points apiece.
After Nielsen's first trifecta of the afternoon put the Hawks up 12-7 just 2:40 in, an 18-6 surge from Post gave the visitors a 25-18 advantage – its largest of the game – with 10:49 remaining in the opening half. Strong led six different scorers with five points during the stretch.
Nine points from Nielsen and eight from Santo fueled a 25-6 counter run that gave Saint Anselm a 43-31 lead at the break. Santo's layup with 7:36 to go gave the Hawks the lead for good at 27-26 before Nielsen's second of three 3s during the run added some cushion 1:02 later.
Saint Anselm opened up the second half with a 7-3 spurt that included five points from Nielsen and gave the Hawks their largest lead of the contest at 50-34 with 18:09 to play. Post answered with a 13-6 run – with six points from Tatum and five from Stephen Perry Jr. – that trimmed the deficit to single digits at 56-47 with 13:51 remaining.
A Zach Krischer trey would slice it to eight over a minute later, while a 3 from Effrin Ellison helped the Eagles close to within seven at 62-55 with 10:57 to go. The teams then traded scores five times before a Nielsen jumper from the left elbow ignited a 16-8 run that featured at least two points from all five starters and opened the lead back up to 15 at 84-69 with 53 seconds left.
Classmate Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) tallied five points (2-5 FG; 1-3 FT), seven assists and three rebounds, while classmate Dominic Borelli (Westbrook, Maine) chipped in four points (2-7 FG) and seven boards.
The Hawks narrowly outshot the Eagles, 50.9 percent (29-57) to 50 percent (27-54), including 66.7 percent (8-12) to 47.4 percent (9-19) from beyond the arc. Saint Anselm won the glass (34-25) and had a better assist-to-turnover ratio (15/12-9/14), while Post captured the paint (34-28).
The Hawks return to action Thursday, Jan. 2 at 2 p.m. when they travel to take on Philadelphia University. The next home game for the Hawks is Saturday, Jan. 4 at 3:30 p.m. when they resume conference play by hosting the College of Saint Rose 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.
