NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. – Sophomore Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) and senior Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) combined for 45 points to lead the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team to Wednesday evening's 90-82 victory against Merrimack College at Hammel Court.
The Hawks win for the 10th time in 12 contests, including their sixth straight, to improve to 17-6 on the season and 15-4 in Northeast-10 play. They need wins in each of their last two regular-season contests to earn the top seed in the Northeast-10's Northeast Division.The Warriors drop to 8-16, 6-13 NE-10.
McCahey poured in 25 points (10-18 FG; 2-4 3-FG; 3-6 FT) and pulled down seven rebounds, while Mallios scored 20 (6-9 FG; 3-3 3-FG; 5-6 FT) – his second straight 20-point outing – to go along with eight assists and four rebounds. Junior Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) kicked in 16 points (6-14 FG; 2-6 3-FG; 2-2 FT), five rebounds, three steals and a pair of assists, while classmate Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) notched his fifth double-double of the season with 11 points (5-9 FG; 1-4 FT) and 11 rebounds and filled the rest of the stat sheet with three assists, a block and a steal. Senior John Nielsen (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) also reached double figures with 12 points (4-11 FG; 4-11 3-FG), in addition to four rebounds and two helpers.
Gelvis Solano dropped a game-high 26 points for Merrimack.
After the Warriors jumped on the board first, Mabrey contributed five points and McCahey added four to make up a 9-0 run that gave the Hawks an early 9-2 advantage just 1:47 into the contest. Merrimack then scored six of the next nine to climb within four, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Nielsen and McCahey sparked an 8-0 run that pushed the lead to 20-8 with 14:30 remaining in the opening half.
The Warriors responded by launching a 13-4 attack – with four points from Solano and four more from Kevin Regan – that trimmed their deficit to 24-21 midway through the half. Mallios snapped the stretch with a 3-pointer, but Ryan Woumn and Solano followed with triples of their own to knot the game at 27-all with 8:03 to play.
Baskets inside from senior Dominic Borelli (Westbrook, Maine) and Santo touched off an 8-2 run that was capped by another Mallios trey to make it 35-29 with 5:16 left. Saint Anselm would bring a 39-31 lead into the break.
Merrimack scored the first two baskets of the second half to cut it to four less than a minute in, but five straight points from the Hawks, including a Nielsen 3-pointer, stretched the lead to nine at 44-35 with 17:34 to play.
The margin was six over a minute later when Saint Anselm ripped off a 16-4 run – with five points each from Santo and Mabrey, plus four more from McCahey – to blow open an 18-point lead at 62-44 with 13:08 left.
The Warriors would whittle the deficit to 15, but treys from Mallios and sophomore Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) bookended an 8-2 spurt that widened the gap to 21 at 70-49 with 11:02 remaining.
Merrimack would again fight it down to 17, but a Santo layup and Nielsen trifecta gave Saint Anselm its largest lead of the night at 80-58 with 7:46 to go. The Warriors would answer with a 20-7 stretch – with seven points apiece from Tyler Hunt and Solano – that pulled them within 87-78 with 1:05 on the clock. They would get as close as eight, but it was far too little and too late.
Saint Anselm narrowly outshot Merrimack, 51.6 percent (33-64) to 51.4 percent (37-72), but held a large advantage from downtown at 46.2 percent (12-26) to 25 percent (4-16). The Hawks also cleaned up at the line, despite shooting at a 54.5 percent clip, as they sank 12 free throws. The Warriors were just 4-for-8 at the stripe. Merrimack controlled the paint (56-38), while Saint Anselm edged it out on the glass (39-37) and also put up a better assist-to-turnover ratio (19/8-15/9).
The Hawks return to action Saturday, Feb. 22 at 3:30 p.m. when they play host Assumption College on Senior Day at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium in the regular-season home finale. 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.
