EASTON, Mass. – Sophomore Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) dropped a game-high 24 points to lead the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team to a 78-75 win against Stonehill College in its season finale Tuesday evening at Merkert Gymnasium as it captured the Northeast-10 Northeast Division Regular Season Championship.
The Hawks, who also won the regular season a year ago, win for the 12th time in 14 games, including their eighth straight, to improve to 19-6 on the season and 17-4 in Northeast-10 play. It is the first time Saint Anselm has won consecutive regular season titles since the 1998-99 and 1999-00 campaigns. The eight-game win streak, meanwhile, is the longest for the program since the 2005-06 Hawks won eight-in-a-row from Dec. 3 to Jan. 5. Saint Anselm has garnered the top seed in the Northeast Division and will have a bye in the first round. It will host Friday's winner of Northeast No. 5 seed Bentley University at Southwest No. 4 seed the College of Saint Rose on Sunday at 3 p.m.
McCahey was 9-for-16 from the floor, including 3-for-5 from deep, and 3-for-4 at the line, while collecting five rebounds and blocking a pair of shots. Senior Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) netted 20 points (8-20 FG; 1-5 3-FG; 3-3 FT) to go along with a career-high six steals, four assists and three rebounds. It is the third 20-point performance in the last four contests for Mallios, who is averaging 18.0 points per game during that stretch. Junior Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) posted 17 points (7-13 FG; 3-4), eight boards and four steals, while classmate Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) tallied 14 points (5-13 FG; 2-5 3-FG; 2-3 FT), six rebounds and four steals.
One game after piling up a program-record 19 steals against Assumption College on Saturday, the Hawks totaled 17 swipes against Stonehill. The 36 thefts are the most in any two-game stretch in the history of the program.
Mitch Amelio paced Stonehill with 16 points, while Ryan Logan added 13 points and nine boards.
Stonehill jumped out to a 5-0 lead and led 11-5 less than four minutes in before a 15-0 streak – with the final seven points coming from McCahey – opened up a 20-11 lead for Saint Anselm with 12:45 remaining in the opening half. A layup from Santo snapped an 11-11 tie and gave the Hawks the lead for good with 14:26 left.
A 6-0 spurt later in the frame cut the Skyhawks' deficit to three at 26-23 with 5:36 to play, but Saint Anselm closed the half on a 15-2 jolt that included seven points from Mallios and sent the Hawks into the break with a 41-25 advantage.
Santo opened the second half with a three-point play that ran the lead to 19, but a 9-2 counter run trimmed the Stonehill deficit to 12 at 46-34 just 1:32 in. Saint Anselm responded by ripping off a 13-4 run – with six points from Santo and five from Mallios – to open its largest lead of the night at 59-38 with 14:59 remaining.
Stonehill followed by crafting a 26-7 barrage – with nine from Mirtch Amelio and eight from Carter Smith – to climb right back into the contest at 66-64 with 7:26 to play. Layups from Santo and McCahey stopped the bleeding and made it a two-possession game, but three points from Pierce Cumpstone pulled the Skyhawks back within 70-67 with 5:41 left.
Saint Anselm had the answer again as an 8-2 run – with four points from Mallios –opened the lead to 78-69 with 3:07 on the clock. Stonehill would not go away, however, scoring six straight to slice the deficit to 78-75 with 1:13 to go. The Skyhawks had a chance to tie it at the buzzer, but Cumpstone's 3-pointer was no good and the Hawks flew away with the win.
Stonehill outshot Saint Anselm, 52.6 percent (30-57) to 39.5 percent (30-76), including 35 percent (7-20) to 23.1 percent (6-26) from long distance. The Skyhawks also held a 43-34 advantage on the glass, but the Hawks won the paint (42-34) and turned it over just seven times, while forcing 21 Stonehill mistakes for a 31-10 bonanza in points off turnovers.
The top-seeded (NE) Hawks return to action Sunday, March 2 at 3 p.m. in a Northeast-10 quarterfinal matchup at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium against either fourth-seeded (SW) Saint Rose or fifth-seeded (NE) Bentley. 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.
