MANCHESTER, N.H. – Junior Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) dropped a game-high 24 points in just 24 minutes of action to lead the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team to a 94-63 Senior Day victory against Assumption College on Saturday afternoon at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks, who set a program record with 19 steals in the game, win for the 11th time in 13 contests, including their seventh straight, to improve to 18-6 on the season and 16-4 in Northeast-10 play. Saint Anselm has earned the No. 1 seed in the Northeast Division and will host the Feb. 28 winner of the No. 5 seed from the Northeast vs. the No. 4 seed from the Southwest on Sunday, March 2 at Stoutenburgh. The Hawks, who have a one-game lead over Franklin Pierce, hold the tiebreaker by virtue of the two teams' head-to-head record against third-seeded Saint Michael's College. Saint Anselm was a perfect 2-0 against the Purple Knights during the regular season, while the Ravens were 0-2. The Greyhounds sink to 7-18, 5-15 NE-10.
Mabrey was an efficient 8 of 11 from the floor, including a perfect 2-for-2 from beyond the arc, and 6 of 7 at the line. Senior John Nielsen (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) submitted a solid Senior Day performance with 14 points (5-10 FG; 4-9 3-FG), three steals, two assists and a pair of rebounds. Junior Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) was also in double figures with 12 points (4-6 FG; 4-4 FT), four rebounds and three steals.
Marcus Murray paced Assumption with 15 points.
Trailing 4-2 just 1:31 into the contest, the Hawks ripped off an 18-0 run – with five points from Nielsen and four points each from Santo and senior Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) – to grab a commanding 20-4 lead just 5:03 in. A Santo basket at 18:29 tied the game and kicked off the stretch before a Nielsen trey just 19 seconds later gave Saint Anselm the lead for good.
Another Nielsen trifecta capped a 5-0 spurt later in the half that ran the lead to an even 20 at 37-17 with 6:31 to play. Then Mabrey ended a 7-0 run with a 3 of his own that nudged the advantage to 44-22 with 3:56 on the clock. The Hawks later scored the final five points of the half, including a 3-pointer from sophomore Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) off a great find by Mallios just before time expired, to bring a 53-28 lead into the locker room.
Saint Anselm had no let down in the second half, using a 14-4 run out of the gate – with six points from Santo and five from Mabrey – to pump its lead up to 67-32 less than five minutes in. After the Greyhounds scored five straight, head coach Keith Dickson began subbing his starters out with just under 14 minutes left in the contest and had them all out of the game by the time there was nine minutes showing on the clock. During that stretch, the Hawks went on a 12-5 run – with five points from Mabrey – to balloon the lead to 79-41 with 9:19 left.
Back-to-back 3-pointers from Chris Fitzgerald briefly righted the ship for Assumption, but an 11-2 charge – with four points each from junior Mark Schulze (Townsend, Mass.) and sophomore Ryan Hartung (Haverhill, Mass.), as well as a 3-pointer from sophomore Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) – gave the Hawks their largest lead of the afternoon at 90-49 with 4:40 to play. Assumption then closed the game on a 14-4 run that featured six points from Murray and shaved the final deficit to 31.
McCahey tallied nine points (3-7 FG; 1-3 3-FG; 2-2 FT), eight rebounds, a career-high six steals and three blocks, while Mallios posted eight points (3-6 FG; 1-3 3-FG; 1-2 FT) and six assists. Senior Dominic Borelli (Westbrook, Maine) chipped in eight points and three boards off the bench. Schulze and Hartung each added six.
Saint Anselm outshot Assumption, 51.7 percent (31-60) to 38.7 percent (24-62), including 40.9 percent (9-22) to 26.3 percent (5-19) from long range. The Hawks also cleaned up at the line as it sank 23 of 28 (82.1%) attempts, while the Greyhounds were just 10 of 19 (52.6%). Saint Anselm forced a season-high 25 turnovers and only gave it away 15 times for a 38-14 landslide in points off turnovers. The 19 steals surpassed the previous program record of 18 swipes against Rivier on Jan, 16, 2003. The Hawks held a 38-32 edge in the paint, while Assumption won the glass, 44-33, including 15-3 on the offensive end for an 18-4 margin in second chance points.
The Hawks return to action Tuesday, Feb. 25 at 7:30 p.m. when they wrap up the regular season by taking on Stonehill College in a Northeast-10 Championship tune up. 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.
