MANCHESTER, N.H. – Sophomore Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) led six scorers in double figures with a game-high 23 points to lead the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team past Saint Michael's College, 99-90, Wednesday evening at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks, who led wire-to-wire, win their fourth straight to improve to 5-2 on the season, including 4-1 in Northeast-10 play. The Purple Knights fall to 6-2, 2-2 NE-10.
McCahey was an efficient 8 of 11 from the floor, including 2 of 4 from beyond the arc, while making 5 of 8 at the line and tallying seven rebounds, four steals, two assists and a block. Senior John Nielsen (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) poured in 18 points (6-16 FG; 4-10 3-FG; 2-2 FT) to go along with a career-best eight rebounds and a pair of helpers, while junior Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) added 14 points (4-8 FG; 6-8 FT) and six boards.
Sophomore Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) submitted 11 points (3-4 FG; 1-1 3-FG; 4-6 FT), four assists and four rebounds off the bench for the Hawks, while senior Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) and junior Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) each kicked in 10 points and six assists.
Mike Holton Jr. led Saint Michael's with 21 points, while James Cambronne posted 20 points and eight rebounds and Matt Bonds added 19 points and 11 boards.
Saint Anselm used an early 12-3 run, which featured 3-pointers from Nielsen and Mallios, to grab a 16-5 lead just under six minutes in. A pair of 3-pointers from Cambronne would cut the Saint Michael's deficit to 18-11 just over a minute later, but layups from Borelli and Joshua, as well as a 3 from freshman Isaiah Nelsen (North Andover, Mass.), helped the Hawks build the lead up to 28-15 with 9:14 to go in the opening half.
Joshua and Nielsen came through with 3-pointers that stretched the lead to 15 just over a minute later before a 10-4 spurt – with six points from Holton and four from Cambronne – kept the visitors in it at 38-29 with 4:34 left. Baskets from Nelsen and Nielsen, followed by a Nielsen triple, made up a run of seven straight Saint Anselm points that pushed its lead to 45-29 with 3:18 on the clock.
Saint Michael's would whittle it to 12, but consecutive 3s from McCahey and Mabrey keyed an 8-2 stretch that gave the Hawks their largest lead of the night at 55-37 with 30 seconds to play. A pair of Cambronne buckets would send the Purple Knights into the locker room trailing, 55-41.
The Hawks led by 12 early in the second half when five Santo points led a 6-0 run that opened it up to 69-51 with 14:47 left to play. Saint Michael's would once again not go away, however, as a Holton 3-pointer sparked an 8-1 run that trimmed the deficit to 70-59 nearly two minutes later.
Five straight points from Mabrey later in the half would widen the gap to 16, but a Corey Crawford II 3-pointer kicked off an 11-1 charge that brought the Purple Knights to within 79-71 with 7:36 on the clock. Layups from McCahey and Mallios were able to put the lead back into double figures, but Saint Michael's forged forward again with an 11-2 run – with six points from Bonds and five from Crawford – to cut it to 85-82 with 4:23 left.
The Purple Knights squandered an opportunity with a pair of missed free throws as Bonds hit one to make it a three-point game, but missed the next, and Holton dropped in a layup as he was fouled to make it 88-87 with 2:38 to play, but missed the freebie to tie it.
McCahey and the Hawks capitalized as he drained a jumper at 2:16 and knocked down a 3-pointer at 1:42 to give the hosts a 93-87 lead. Saint Anselm would nail six of its eight free throws down the stretch to preserve the win.
Senior Dominic Borelli (Westbrook, Maine) notched eight points on perfect 4 of 4 shooting and collected five rebounds.
Crawford added 16 points and 12 boards for the Purple Knights.
Saint Anselm outshot Saint Michael's, 50 percent (35-70) to 46.6 percent (34-73), including 44 percent (11-25) to 37 percent (10-27) from long distance. The Purple Knights won the glass, 48-40, including 16-10 on the offensive end, and held a 40-38 edge in the paint, but the Hawks only turned it over six times alongside 21 assists, while Saint Michael's gave it away 14 times to match its number of helpers.
The Hawks return to action Saturday, Dec. 7 at 3:30 p.m. when they travel to take on Franklin Pierce University. The next home game for the Hawks is Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m. when they play host to Stonehill 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.
