MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) poured in 29 points and classmate Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) added 26 as the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team handled Pace University on Saturday afternoon, 95-70, at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks win for the second time in three games to better their record to 10-5 on the season, including 7-4 in Northeast-10 play. The Setters lose to Saint Anselm for the ninth time in 10 meetings and sink to 5-13, 1-9 NE-10 on the year.
Santo was an efficient 9 of 15 from the floor and 11 of 13 from the line as he also grabbed five rebounds and made four steals. Mabrey shot 10-for-18, including 6-for-9 from beyond the arc, in addition to collecting seven rebounds and handing out a pair of assists. Sophomore Harrison Taggart (Wallingford, Vt.) put together his best performance in a Saint Anselm uniform as he reached career highs in points (15), rebounds (11) and assists (7) for his first career double-double. Taggart shot 5 of 9 from the field, including 3 of 6 from deep, and 2 of 2 at the stripe. Junior Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) was also in double figures with 14 points (4-6 FG, 2-4 3-FG, 4-5 FT), five assists, four rebounds and two steals.
Shelton Mickell paced the Setters with 22 points, while Kyle Pearson netted 20.
With Saint Anselm, which led wire-to-wire, ahead by one just over two minutes into the contest, a Santo layup sparked a 7-2 spurt that was capped by a Taggart 3-pointer and gave the Hawks a 12-6 advantage just a minute later.
After a Pearson 3-pointer cut the deficit in half, treys from Mabrey and Joshua put the Hawks up 20-11 with 13:59 remaining in the opening half. The margin was eight around nine minutes later when seven straight points from Santo fueled an 11-0 swing that ballooned the lead to 19 at 51-32 with 1:19 on the clock. The Setters would add a free throw before the half to head into the locker room trailing, 51-33.
Taggart opened the half with four straight points that helped the Hawks pick up where they left off as an 8-0 run to start the second stanza extended the larger run to 19-1 and blew open a 59-33 lead just 2:29 in. Later, a 9-1 stretch – highlighted by 3-pointers from Joshua and Mabrey – pulled the lead to 71-40 with 13:03 remaining.
Five consecutive Santo points four minutes later led to a 10-3 spurt that was capped with another Taggart trey, which gave the Hawks their largest lead of the day at 88-55 with 7:09 to play. The margin remained in the 30s until Mickell scored the final six points of the contest.
The Hawks outshot the Setters, 49.2 percent (31-63) to 43.5 percent (27-62), including 42.3 percent (11-26) to 35 percent (7-20) from downtown. Saint Anselm was also efficient at the line, going 22-for-26 (84.6%), while Pace was just 9 of 13 (69.2%). The Hawks owned advantages in rebounding (42-29), the paint (30-28), assist-to-turnover ratio (19/9-7/10), points off turnovers (15-7) and second chance points (14-7).
The Hawks return to action Wednesday, Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m. when they play host to Le Moyne College 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.
