NEW HAVEN, Conn. – Juniors Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) and Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) each scored 16 points, but the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team dropped a 78-72 decision to Southern Connecticut State University in the NCAA East Regional final Tuesday evening at Moore Field House.
The Hawks, who were trying to advance to their second Elite Eight ever and first since 2000, lose for just the second time in their last 13 games as they end their season at 22-8 overall. The Owls win their 19th straight game to improve to 30-2 and will head to Evansville, Ind., for the Elite Eight.
Santo shot 7-for-10 from the floor, including 1-for-1 from deep, and made his only free throw, while collecting seven rebounds and handing out a pair of assists. Mabrey was 7-for-17 from the field, including 2-for-6 from beyond the arc, to go along with three rebounds and two assists. Senior Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass.) tallied 13 points (5-12 FG; 3-7 3-FG), six assists, four rebounds and two steals, while classmate Dominic Borelli (Westbrook, Maine) posted 12 points (6-8 FG) and six boards. Mabrey and Borelli were both named to the NCAA East Region All-Tournament Team.
Tylon Smith led Southern Connecticut with 29 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.
With the game tied at four early on, a pair of Mabrey baskets gave the Hawks an 8-4 lead 4:30 in. The margin was still four more than four minutes later when five straight points put the Owls in front, 11-10. The teams then traded buckets before six points from Borelli powered a 10-2 run that opened a 22-15 advantage for Saint Anselm with 6:03 to go in the opening half.
Southern Connecticut would get as close as four and trailed by five when a pair of baskets from Borelli gave the Hawks their largest lead of the night at 30-21 with 2:23 left. Saint Anselm would bring a 32-25 advantage into the break and fell to 16-3 this season when ahead at halftime.
The Owls would immediately cut it to five on a Smith jumper just half a minute in, but Saint Anselm would get hoops from Mabrey and sophomore Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) to run the lead back to nine less than a minute later. A 5-0 spurt from Southern Connecticut would slice it to four, but the Hawks answered again with a three-point play from Santo and a layup from Mallios to make it 43-34 with 15:35 to play.
A 6-2 stretch pulled Southern Connecticut back within five just over a minute later, but Mabrey came through with Saint Anselm's first 3-pointer of the contest with 13:54 on the clock to nudge the lead to 48-40. That would be the last answer the Hawks would have, however, as the Owls ripped off a 22-4 barrage – with eight from Smith and six from Michael Mallory – to go on top, 62-52, with 3:59 left. A Smith runner in the paint gave the Owls the lead for good at 50-48 midway through the half.
Southern Connecticut opened its largest lead of the contest at 66-55 with 2:47 to go, but treys from Mallios and Santo kept the Hawks in it at 66-61 with 1:30 on the clock. A Mabrey triple with 44 seconds left pulled Saint Anselm to within 70-66, but the Owls went 6-for-6 from the line over the final 36 seconds as the Hawks ran out of time, despite a pair of Mallios deep 3s.
McCahey registered six points (3-14 FG) and seven rebounds, while classmate Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) chipped in five points (2-7 FG; 1-1 FT). Senior John Nielsen (Port Jefferson, N.Y.) notched four points (1-9 FG; 1-9 3-FG; 1-2 FT) and five rebounds and broke Matt Cahill's single-season record from 2005-06 with his 106th 3-pointer of the year.
Greg Langston tallied 15 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Owls, while Mallory also added 15 points.
Saint Anselm outshot Southern Connecticut, 40.3 percent (31-77) to 38.9 percent (28-72), including 22.6 percent (7-31) to 11.8 percent (2-17) from long distance. The Owls feasted at the line, however, as they went 20-for-24 (83.3%) and the Hawks were just 3-for-4 (75%). Southern Connecticut won the paint, 50-38, and the glass, 55-37, including 19-10 on the offensive end. Saint Anselm featured a better assist-to-turnover ratio (12/8 to 10/11).
This marks the final game for seniors Mallios, Borelli and Nielsen.
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