EASTON, Mass. – Senior Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) scored a game-high 25 points and junior Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) posted his third double-double of the season to lead the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team to Wednesday evening's 75-57 victory against Stonehill College at Merkert Gymnasium.
The Hawks, who are now a perfect 5-0 away from the friendly confines of Stoutenburgh Gymnasium, win their fifth straight to improve to 7-1 on the season, including 5-1 in Northeast-10 play. The Skyhawks drop to 5-4, 3-3 NE-10.
Santo shot 11-for-16 from the field, including 2-for-3 from beyond the arc, and 1-for-3 at the line, to go along with seven rebounds and two steals. McCahey poured in 22 points (10-16 FG, 1-3 3-FG, 1-3 FT), including 14 in the second half, and corralled 12 rebounds. Senior Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) was also in double figures with 10 points (4-10 FG, 2-3 3-FG) – all in the second half – and tallied three assists and two rebounds.
Carter Smith led Stonehill with 17 points, while Jack Cole produced a double-double of 14 points and 11 boards.
Neither team led by more than three points to begin the game until Stonehill used back-to-back 3-pointers from Adam Bramanti to turn a 12-11 deficit into a 17-12 advantage with 11:12 remaining in the opening half.
Layups from McCahey and Santo made it a one-point game, but a 5-0 spurt from the Skyhawks bumped their lead to 22-16 with under seven minutes to go. The lead was at a half-high 28-20 less than three minutes later when a Santo 3-pointer sparked a 9-2 run that closed the half and sent the Hawks into the locker room trailing, 30-29. Santo led all scorers with 16 at the break.
A right-wing 3-pointer from freshman Taylor Fortin (Tolland, Conn.) opened the second-half scoring and gave the Hawks the lead for good before a Santo layup extended the run to 14-2 and established a 34-30 lead just 1:04 in.
Stonehill climbed to within a pair 1:40 later before a Mabrey jumper set off a 15-4 run that included eight points from McCahey and five from Santo to widen the gap to 51-38 with 12:03 to go.
With the margin still at 13 over three minutes later, an 8-2 stretch – capped by treys from senior Mark Schulze (Townsend, Mass.) and Mabrey – extended the lead to 63-44 with 7:30 on the clock. Five straight points from Smith made it a 14-point game, but another Mabrey jumper keyed a 10-4 rush – highlighted by Fortin and Mabrey trifectas – that gave the Hawks their largest lead of the night at 73-53 with 3:10 remaining.
Fortin finished with six points (2-6 FG, 2-5 3-FG), four assists and three rebounds, while Schulze added five points (2-3 FG, 1-2 3-FG), four rebounds and a pair of helpers. Freshman Kyle Green (Woodbury Heights, N.J.) chipped in five points (2-3 FG, 1-2 FT) and two boards.
Saint Anselm outshot Stonehill, 52.5 percent (32-61) to 38.5 percent (25-65), including 40 percent (8-20) to 18.2 percent (4-22) from deep and 67.9 percent (19-28) to 37.1 percent (13-35) in the second half. The Hawks also owned advantages on the glass (39-33), in the paint (38-32) and in assist-to-turnover ratio (16/11-10/10).
The Hawks return to action Saturday, Dec. 20 at 2 p.m. when they take on Post University in non-conference action. The next home game for the Hawks is Wednesday, Jan. 7 at 7:30 p.m. when they play host to the University of New Haven 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.
