MANCHESTER, N.H. – Sophomore Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) poured in a career-high 32 points, but the 11th-ranked and second-seeded Saint Anselm College men's basketball team was handed a 77-66 loss by the seventh-seeded University of Bridgeport on Saturday afternoon in an NCAA Men's Basketball Division II East Regional quarterfinal at the Southern New Hampshire University Fieldhouse.
The Hawks have their season ended at 23-6 overall, while the Purple Knights improve to 22-9 and advance to Sunday's 5 p.m. semifinal against Assumption College.
Santo reached career highs in points, field goals made and free throws made, while recording his fourth double-double of the season. He shot 11-for-18 from the floor and was 10-for-13 at the line, to go along with 12 rebounds. Classmate Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) was also in double figures with 14 points (5-18 FG, 0-3 3-FG, 4-5 FT), alongside five rebounds, four assists and two steals.
The first six-plus minutes of the contest featured five ties and a pair of lead changes before layups by freshman Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) and Santo gave the Hawks what would be their largest lead of the day at 16-11 with 13:03 remaining in the first half.
After the teams traded baskets, a 19-2 run – with six points from JoJo Swift and four each from Dion Waiters and Omari Howard – opened up a 32-20 lead with 5:22 to play.
Saint Anselm answered back with eight straight points – with four each from Santo and Mabrey – to trim its deficit to 32-28 at the 2:49 mark, but Bridgeport scored the final four points of the half and took a 36-28 advantage into the locker room.
The Purple Knights extended their run to 8-1 in the first 2:14 of the second half and nudged their lead to 40-29. With the lead at an even 10 a minute-and-a-half later, the Hawks crafted an 11-4 run that featured six points from Santo and a trey from junior John Nielsen (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) to climb back within 46-43 at the 13:37 mark.
That was as close as the East Regional hosts would get as a quick 8-0 run jumped Bridgeport's lead to 54-43 two minutes later. Another Nielsen trifecta and two Mabrey free throws cut it back to six with 10:14 to play, but a 6-0 spurt from the Purple Knights brought it to 60-48 with just under eight minutes on the clock.
The margin would slide between eight and 12 over the next six minutes until a Howard free throw at 1:23 gave Bridgeport its largest lead of the contest at 73-60. A pair of Santo layups would eventually close it to nine, but two David Darian free throws closed the scoring with 35 seconds on the clock.
McCahey netted six points (2-13 FG; 0-5 3-FG; 2-4 FT) and corralled 12 boards, while Nielsen also chipped in six points (2-10 FG; 2-7 3-FG). Junior Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) registered six points (2-10 FG; 1-4 3-FG; 1-2 FT), six rebounds and seven assists.
Bridgeport outshot Saint Anselm, 43.8 percent (28-64) to 31.5 percent (23-73), while both teams shot a combined 7-for-38 from beyond the arc. The Hawks held a 50-47 advantage on the glass, including 21-14 on the offensive end. The Purple Knights outscored the Hawks in the paint, 42-36. Each team turned it over just 10 times.
Darian led Bridgeport with 21 points.
This marked the final game for seniors James Morse (Arundel, Maine) and Quinn Woodhouse (Gaylord, Mich.).
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