SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Junior Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) and sophomore Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) scored 18 and 17 points, respectively, but the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team suffered a 76-74 loss to Le Moyne College on Wednesday evening at Ted Grant Court.
The Hawks fall to 11-6 on the season, including 9-4 in Northeast-10 play, while the Dolphins improve to 10-7, 7-4 NE-10.
Santo was an efficient 8 of 11 from the floor and 2 of 4 from the stripe, while tallying six rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists. McCahey shot 5-for-11 from the field, including 3-for-7 from long distance, and made all four of his free throws to go along with seven boards and two assists. Senior John Nielsen (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) added 15 points (5-11 FG; 5-11 3-FG), while classmate Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) posted 12 points (4-8 FG; 3-4 3-FG; 1-2 FT) and eight helpers.
Nate Champion led the Dolphins with 23 points and 10 assists, while Jim Janson and Nate Gause each added 20.
Saint Anselm led by five with just over two minutes left in regulation when seven points from Champion fueled a 9-0 Le Moyne run that put it on top, 73-69, with 39 seconds to play. Santo stopped the bleeding with a layup 13 seconds later and Janson missed the front end of a 1-and-1 with 19 ticks on the clock.
Nielsen launched a 3-pointer that would have given the Hawks the lead back, but his attempt was blocked by Gause, who then drained a pair at the line to push the lead to 75-71 with six seconds left. Mallios knocked down a big 3 to cut it to one with two seconds left, but Gause made one of two at the line a second later and Saint Anselm never held the ball again.
Le Moyne narrowly outshot Saint Anselm, 51.9 percent (28-54) to 50 percent (28-56), including 53.8 percent (7-13) to 42.3 percent (11-26) from downtown. The Dolphins owned the paint (42-26) and held a 31-29 edge on the glass. Despite both teams turning it over just 11 times, Le Moyne held a 19-12 margin in points off mistakes.
After Nielsen opened the contest with a 3-pointer 2:12 in, Santo followed with a pair of layups that put the Hawks on top, 7-2, with 16:24 remaining in the opening half. Le Moyne responded with a balanced 8-2 counter run that featured four different scorers and staked the hosts to a 10-9 lead with 13:25 to play.
Senior Dominic Borelli (Westbrook, Maine) kicked in four straight points and the Hawks led by three a minute later. Eight points from Gause helped Le Moyne launch an 11-5 run that put the Dolphins in front, 21-18, with 8:44 left.
Santo cut it to one with a layup before triples from Nielsen and Mallios quickly opened up a 26-21 advantage for the visitors with 6:31 to go. Four points from Janson helped spark a 6-0 spurt that gave Le Moyne the lead back at 27-26 with 5:13 remaining.
After the teams traded points, another Nielsen trey highlighted a 7-0 burst that put Saint Anselm out in front, 35-29, with 2:22 left. The Dolphins closed the half on a 6-1 run, however, and went into the locker room only trailing, 36-35.
The first two minutes of the second half saw three lead changes and a pair of ties before four straight points from Janson enabled the Dolphins to grab a 45-41 lead with 17:25 to go. The lead was three for Le Moyne when a jumper from junior Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) sparked a 6-0 run that gave Saint Anselm a 50-47 lead with 13:54 to play.
Gause and Champion came right back with trifectas that put the hosts in front by three. After the teams traded scores again, the Hawks ripped off an 11-2 run – with eight points from McCahey – to open a 63-57 advantage with 8:43 remaining.
A 7-1 run – with four points from Janson and three from Champion – knotted the game at 64 with just over four minutes left, but a McCahey jumper and Nielsen's final 3-pointer of the evening staked Saint Anselm to a 69-64 lead with 2:45 left. The Hawks would be outscored 12-5 the rest of the way, however, as Le Moyne snatched the victory.
Borelli posted eight points (4-4 FG), six rebounds, two assists and two steals.
The Hawks return to action Saturday, Jan. 25 at 3:30 p.m. when they continue their four-game road strech against top-ranked Bentley University. The next home game for the Hawks is Saturday, Feb. 8 at 11:30 a.m. when they play host to crosstown-rival Southern New Hampshire University in a game that will be aired on CBS Sports Network live from 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.
