MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) scored a game-high 27 points to lead five scorers in double figures as the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team overcame an 11-point second-half deficit to defeat Franklin Pierce University, 91-88, on Saturday afternoon at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks win their fourth straight to improve to 6-1 on the season, including 4-1 in Northeast-10 play, while the Ravens dip to 5-4, 2-2 NE-10.
Mabrey shot 8-for-17, including just 1-for-6 from beyond the arc, and was a perfect 10-for-10 at the line, in addition to grabbing four rebounds and dishing a pair of assists. Junior Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) put together his second straight impressive performance with a career-high 20 points (6-9 FG, 8-12 FT), four assists and two rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench. Senior Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) and junior Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) each recorded their 11th career double-doubles. Santo dropped in 16 points (7-9 FG, 2-5 FT), including the 1,000th of his career, and pulled down 10 rebounds to go along with three assists, while McCahey also netted 16 points (6-12 FG, 2-4 3-FG, 2-2 FT) and collected 13 boards. Senior Mark Schulze (Townsend, Mass.) added 10 points (4-5 FG, 2-3 3-FG) in 16 minutes off the pine.
Paul Becklens led Franklin Pierce with 25 points, while Ryen Vilmont added 24.
Santo opened the game with a layup just 12 seconds in that gave him exactly 1,000 career collegiate points and gave the Hawks an early 2-0 lead. Franklin Pierce immediately answered and then the teams traded buckets once more before three Mabrey free throws kicked off a 10-4 run that included a McCahey 3-pointer and four more points from Santo to open up a 14-8 lead under four minutes in.
After a Vilmont 3-pointer, layups from Mabrey and Joshua pushed the Saint Anselm lead to seven at 18-11 with 13:22 remaining in the opening half. The Ravens sliced their deficit to a pair nearly two minutes later, but five straight points from Schulze ran the lead back to seven at 25-18 midway through the stanza.
Franklin Pierce responded by going on a 20-4 tear – with five points each from Becklens and Dustin Cole – to grab a 38-29 lead with 4:21 to play. A Mabrey layup with under a minute on the clock would close the scoring and cut Saint Anselm's halftime deficit to 44-37. Mabrey led all scorers with 15 at the break.
Santo, who arrived on the Hilltop following one year at the University of Vermont, again kicked off the second half with a layup, with this one making him the 47th player in program history to score 1,000 points while wearing a Saint Anselm uniform.
Santo would follow with a second layup to trim the deficit to just three, but back-to-back treys from Vilmont widened the gap to nine at 50-41 just 3:41 in. Vilmont would hit another 3 a minute later and Franklin Pierce had its largest lead of the afternoon at 55-44 with 15:07 remaining.
Saint Anselm answered with a 15-3 run that was bookended by 3-pointers from McCahey and Mabrey to leapfrog the Hawks back into the lead for the first time in over 16 minutes at 59-58 with 11:20 to go.
After Becklens handed Franklin Pierce the lead back, Joshua scored seven straight points for his team, but a pair of 3s mixed in from Cole would leave the game tied at 66-all with 6:46 to go. Four ties and two lead changes later, a pair of McCahey baskets, sandwiched around a Joshua layup, opened up an 80-74 lead for the hosts with 2:36 on the clock.
A Santo layup with 1:01 left would match Saint Anselm's largest lead of the day at 85-78. The Hawks would go 6-for-6 at the line down the stretch to maintain a six-point lead before Cole drained a 3 as time expired to bring the final margin to three.
Franklin Pierce outshot Saint Anselm, 51.6 percent (33-64) to 46.3 percent (31-67), including 50 percent (13-26) to 27.8 percent (5-18) from deep. The Hawks hurt the Ravens at the line, however, going 24-for-33 (72.7%), while the visitors were just 9-for-12 (75%). Saint Anselm also held advantages on the glass (39-31) and in the paint (44-38). They owned a 14-7 edge in offensive rebounds, which they turned into a 13-6 mark in second-chance points, and turned it over just 13 times, while forcing 19 Franklin Pierce mistakes for a 26-18 margin in points off turnovers.
Cole scored 17 for Franklin Pierce.
The Hawks return to action Wednesday, Dec. 10 at 5:30 p.m. when they take on Stonehill College at Merkert Gymnasium. The next home game for the Hawks is Wednesday, Jan. 7 when they play host to the University of New Haven at Stoutenburgh. 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.
