WALTHAM, Mass. – Junior Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) scored a game-high 27 points to help the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team erase a 13-point second-half deficit and earn an 88-79 win against Bentley University on Saturday afternoon at the Dana Center.
The Hawks improve to 12-6 on the season, including 10-4 in Northeast-10 play, while the Falcons drop to 13-6, 7-6 NE-10.
Santo was 9-for-15 from the floor and 9-for-11 from the line, while pulling down eight rebounds. Junior Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) tallied 18 points (8-16 FG; 2-4 FT), seven rebounds and a pair of steals, while sophomore Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) registered his fifth double-double of the season with 15 points (6-13 FG; 1-5 3-FG; 2-2 FT) and 11 rebounds to go along with three assists and a pair of blocks. Senior Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) posted 13 points (5-10 FG; 3-3 3-FG), seven assists and four rebounds.
Andrew Shaw led Bentley with 18 points.
Nine points from Santo and seven from McCahey helped the Hawks open up an 18-13 lead in the first 5:17 of the half, but a trio of 3-pointers, including two from Shaw, fueled an 11-2 run that gave the Falcons at 24-20 advantage with 11:53 to play in the first half.
A Mabrey 3-pointer sparked a 7-2 spurt for the Hawks, but Bentley responded by ripping off a 19-6 run – with seven points from Keegan Hyland and six from Shaw – that put the Falcons in front, 45-33, with 2:11 left. The Hawks closed the half on a 6-2 run – with the final four points coming from senior Dominic Borelli (Westbrook, Maine) – to slice the halftime deficit to 47-39.
It was a nine-point game less than three minutes into the second half when baskets from Shaw and Tyler McFarland gave Bentley its largest lead of the day at 56-43 with 16:14 to play. Mallios and senior John Nielsen (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) answered with 3-pointers that sparked an 11-1 run that trimmed the Saint Anselm deficit to 57-54 with 13:54 remaining.
After the teams traded 3s, a pair of McFarland buckets stretched the Bentley lead to 64-57 with 10:51 to play. The lead was six nearly four minutes later when Mallios delivered a 3-pointer, a steal and a layup in succession to pull Saint Anselm within 68-67 with 6:26 left.
Following a pair of Shaw free throws, two Santo baskets handed the Hawks the lead back at 71-70 with 4:59 to go. A pair of Jasper Grassa free throws gave Bentley a 74-73 lead over a minute later, but four points from Santo and a 3-pointer from Nielsen made up a 7-2 run that put Saint Anselm back in front at 80-76 with 1:46 left.
Grassa drilled a 3 to cut it to one 23 seconds later, but a Mallios layup made it 82-79 with 1:08 on the clock and sparked a game-ending 8-0 run as Santo went 6-for-6 at the line in the final 31.1 seconds to seal the victory.
Nielsen finished with nine points (3-9 FG; 3-7 3-FG), four rebounds and two assists.
Saint Anselm outshot Bentley, 50 percent (33-66) to 36.1 percent (26-72), including 42.9 percent (9-21) to 30.3 percent (10-33) from long distance. The Falcons held a 43-40 advantage on the glass, including 17-8 on the offensive end for a 19-7 margin in second-chance points. Bentley also owned a 19-9 gap in points off turnovers after giving it away just 11 times and forcing 14 Saint Anselm giveaways.
The Hawks return to action Saturday, Feb. 1 at 3:30 p.m. when they close out their four-game road stint against American International College. 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.
