WATERBURY, Conn. – Senior Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) scored a game-high 19 points and sophomore Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) added 18 to lead the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team to Saturday afternoon's 76-68 non-conference victory against Post University at the Drubner Center.
The Hawks win their sixth straight to improve to 8-1 heading into the Christmas break, while the Eagles drop to 4-6. The 8-1 record matches Saint Anselm's best nine-game start to a season since the 2010-11 squad also opened 8-1.
The duo of Santo and McCahey came alive in the second half as the Bash Bros. combined for 29 of the Hawks' 39 points. Santo netted 13 of his points in the second half and finished 7 of 12 from the floor and 5 of 8 from the stripe to go along with seven rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block. McCahey shook off a tough start to complete the day 6 of 11 from the field, including 2 of 4 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 4 of 4 at the line, as he poured in 16 second-half points (5-6 FG, 2-3 3-FG, 4-4 FT) to go along with six of his nine boards.
Senior Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) carried Saint Anselm in the first half as he scored all 13 of his points (5-13 FG, 3-6 3-FG) in the opening stanza and finished with six rebounds and a pair of assists. Junior Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) was also in double figures with a balanced 13 points (4-7 FG, 2-3 3-FG, 3-4 FT) and five assists.
Nardie Bogues and Matt Mareno led Post with 17 points each, while Moreno filled out the rest of the stat sheet with 10 rebounds, two assists, two blocks and two steals.
With Saint Anselm leading 4-2 early on, an 18-7 run – featuring six points from Bogues, who led five scorers during the stretch – gave Post its largest lead of the contest at 20-11 with 12:56 remaining in the opening half.
The deficit was seven for the Hawks nearly four minutes later when a Mabrey 3-pointer set off a 15-4 blitz that received contributions from five different scorers, including sophomore Grant Mackay (No. Berwick, Scotland), who threw down a dunk, and opened a 32-28 lead with 5:58 to go.
Another Mabrey triple later in the half pushed the Saint Anselm lead to six, but Moreno would close the scoring with a bucket that cut the Hawks' lead to 37-33 at the break.
Santo scored the first five points of the second half to widen the gap to nine at 42-33 just under two minutes in. With the lead at seven just under four minutes later, the Hawks reeled off a 12-4 run – with the final 10 points coming from McCahey – to grab their largest lead of the game at 58-43 with 10:38 left to play.
Post responded with seven straight points to pull within eight, but Saint Anselm halted the stretch with a pair of Santo free throws and a layup from sophomore Harrison Taggart (Wallingford, Vt.) to nudge the lead to 12 at 62-50 with 6:14 on the clock.
A Bogues 3-pointer made it a nine-point game, but Saint Anselm scored seven of the next 10 points and punctuated the stretch with a trey by senior Mark Schulze (Townsend, Mass.) that made it 69-56 with 4:09 left.
After the teams traded scores, a balanced 10-1 barrage sliced the Post deficit to just four at 72-68 with under a minute to go. Joshua and McCahey combined to go a perfect 4-for-4 at the line, however, to seal the win.
Shulze tallied seven points, four rebounds and two steals, while Taggart added four points, eight boards, three steals and a pair of assists.
Post outshot Saint Anselm, 48.3 percent (28-58) to 42.2 percent (27-64), while the Hawks narrowly edged the Eagles from distance, 36.4 percent (8-22) to 35.3 percent (6-17). Saint Anselm was also an efficient 14 of 18 (77.8%) at the line, while Post was just 6-for-11 from the stripe. The Hawks held a 43-31 advantage on the glass, including 13-5 on the offensive end, won the paint, 36-30, and turned 15 Post turnovers into a 19-11 margin in points off mistakes. Saint Anselm gave it away 13 times.
The Hawks return to action Wednesday, Dec. 31 at 3 p.m. when they take on the University of New Haven 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 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.
