RINDGE, N.H. – Junior Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) recorded his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 10 rebounds and junior Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) registered the 1,000th point of his career, but the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team suffered a 77-73 defeat at the hands of Franklin Pierce University in another entertaining battle between the two teams Saturday afternoon at the Fieldhouse.
The Hawks drop to 5-3 on the season, including 4-2 in Northeast-10 play, while the Ravens improve to 10-1, 5-1 NE-10.
Santo hit eight of the 16 shots he took from the floor, including 1 of 3 from deep, and 1 of 2 at the stripe, while blocking a pair of shots. Senior Dominic Borelli (Westbrook, Maine) matched his season high with 13 points (5-7 FG; 3-4 FT) to go along with four rebounds. Mabrey, who became the 45th Hawk to reach the 1,000-point plateau on a basket with 13:30 to play in the contest, dropped in 11 points (4-14 FG; 2-8 3-FG; 1-3 FT) and added five rebounds and a pair of assists. Sophomore Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) also scored in double figures with 10 points (4-12 FG; 1-3 3-FG; 12 FT).
Ellis Cooper led Franklin Pierce with 22 points alongside seven rebounds, six blocks, four assists and four steals, while Ryen Vilmont added 21 points, 14 boards, six blocks and four assists.
In a game that included 16 lead changes and 10 ties, Saint Anselm led by seven with under seven minutes to go when Franklin Pierce went on a 15-3 run – with seven points from Vilmont and six from Cooper – to take a 73-68 lead with 2:47 left. A pair of Vilmont free throws dissolved the Hawks' final lead of the day and made it 66-65 with 4:45 on the clock.
Santo responded by knocking down a big 3-pointer from the right wing and then used a layup, following a Franklin Pierce turnover, to tie the game at 73 with 1:07 to go. Cooper muscled his way to the rim for a layup on the next trip down to make it 75-73 with 50 seconds left.
The Hawks missed a 3 at the other end, but gained the ball back after Vilmont missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 33 ticks left. Mabrey launched a 3 from the left corner with seven seconds left that looked good all the way, but didn't fall, and Vilmont drilled both free throws with 4.4 seconds on the clock to seal the win.
Franklin Pierce outshot Saint Anselm, 47.4 percent (27-57) to 40.3 percent (29-72), including just narrowly from 3-point range, 36.8 percent (7-19) to 36.4 percent (8-22). The Ravens also held advantages on the glass (44-35) and in the paint (40-34), while the Hawks owned a 19-13 margin in points off turnovers after giving it away just 10 times and forcing 18 Franklin Pierce mistakes.
After a Scott Tavares-Taylor 3-pointer gave Franklin Pierce an 11-7 lead with 13:10 on the clock in the first half, a three-point play from senior Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) and layup from sophomore Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) put Saint Anselm in the lead at 12-11 just under a minute later.
The lead changed hands three times and the score was tied twice over the next two minutes before a layup from Borelli tied it and a 3-pointer from the top of the key by junior Mark Schulze (Townsend, Mass.) gave the Hawks a 21-18 edge with 9:25 remaining.
A 7-0 run – with five points from Vilmont – a couple of minutes later put the Ravens back on top at 28-23 with 5:56 left. A layup from Santo sparked a 10-0 run for Saint Anselm as Mabrey and senior John Nielsen (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) followed with 3-pointers before a layup from McCahey put the Hawks up 33-28 with 3:20 to go.
Donte Gittens capped an 8-0 Franklin Pierce run with a trey that made it 36-33 with 44 seconds left and the Ravens would go into the locker room with a 38-34 lead. Santo had 11 points and six boards at the break, while Gittens led all scorers with 12 points.
The Hawks still trailed by four over a minute into the second half when five points apiece from Mabrey and Nielsen fueled a 14-4 run that gave the Hawks a 50-44 lead with 15:14 remaining. After hoops from Vilmont and Tavares-Taylor sliced the Franklin Pierce deficit to a pair, an 8-0 run, including the final four points from Borelli, opened the Hawks' largest lead of the game at 58-48 with 11:58 to play.
After the teams traded baskets, 3-pointers from Tyler Iacuone and Vilmont trimmed the deficit to four at 60-54 with 9:39 to go. A McCahey trey briefly righted the ship, but the Ravens were on the doorstep of their game-changing run.
Mallios tallied eight points (3-11 FG; 1-3 3-FG; 1-3 FT), 12 assists and four rebounds, while Nielsen recorded eight points (3-7 FG; 2-4 3-FG) and three rebounds.
The Hawks return to action Tuesday, Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m. when they play host to Stonehill 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.
