MANCHESTER, N.H. – Sophomore Harrison Taggart (Wallingford, Vt.) paced five scorers in double figures with a career-best 17 points to lead the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team to Wednesday evening's 86-66 triumph against Le Moyne College at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks, who beat Le Moyne for the sixth time in seven meetings, win for the third time in four games to improve to 11-5 on the season, including 8-4 in Northeast-10 play. The Dolphins, who entered the contest winners of four of their last six, dip to 12-6, 6-5 NE-10.
Saint Anselm had its zone offense working in this one and made 15 of its 33 3-point attempts – the most since the Hawks drained 18 treys at home against Le Moyne on Jan. 26, 2013. The Hawks also scored 22 points above the average the Dolphins – the 20th-ranked field goal percentage defense and 25th-ranked scoring defense in the nation – had allowed entering the day.
Just one game after notching a career-high 15 points in a win against Pace on Saturday, Taggart quickly set a new mark as he made 6 of 10 shots, including five of his eight 3-point attempts, while tallying five assists, four rebounds, two blocks and a steal. Senior Mark Schulze (Townsend, Mass.) also set new career highs with 15 points (6-9 FG, 2-5 3-FG, 1-1 FT) and seven assists, while equaling his career best of six rebounds.
Senior Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) recorded his third double-double of the year with 14 points (5-8 FG, 4-5 FT) and 11 boards, to go along with a pair of assists. Classmate Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) also netted 14 points (5-12 FG, 4-8 3-FG), while adding four assists, three steals and two rebounds. Junior Ryan Hartung (Haverhill, Mass.) contributed 12 points (4-9 FG, 2-5 3-FG, 2-2 FT), four boards and an assist in 19 minutes off the bench.
Stan Buczek led Le Moyne with a game-high 20 points, while Qwadere Lovell added 18.
Le Moyne grabbed an early 5-2 edge just 1:25 in before a 3-pointer from junior Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) ignited a 16-0 blitz that followed with five straight points from Santo before being closed by eight consecutive points from Taggart to break open an 18-5 advantage with 13:42 remaining in the opening half.
A 5-0 spurt from Le Moyne later in the half pulled the Dolphins within 21-14 at the 11:07 mark, but four points from Hartung helped craft a 6-0 stretch that ran the lead back to 13 at 29-16 with 8:11on the clock.
The Hawks' lead was 37-25 with 3:03 to play when 3-pointers by Connor Mahoney, Buczek and Tanner Hyland highlighted an 11-4 run that trimmed the Le Moyne deficit to 41-36 with 24 seconds left. A Santo layup off a feed from Schulze just before the buzzer sent Saint Anselm into the break with a 43-36 advantage.
After Mabrey opened the second half with a 3-pointer that pushed the lead to an even 10 just 18 seconds in, the Dolphins used a 4-0 spurt to climb back within six at the 18:23 mark. That was as close as they would get the remainder of the way, however, as a pair of triples from Taggart and one each from Schulze and Mabrey fueled a 15-2 barrage that broke the game open for the Hawks at 61-42 with 15:01 to play. Schulze equaled Taggart's six points during the stretch as he closed it by leaping for an offensive rebound with one hand, hanging in the air while being pulled down from behind and tipping the ball into the hoop before completing the three-point play at the line.
Later in the half, back-to-back buckets from sophomore Grant Mackay (No. Berwick, Scotland) started a 10-4 run, which also included 3s from Joshua and Hartung, to give the Hawks a game-high 23-point lead at 82-59 with 6:14 left. The teams would trade scores twice before Le Moyne netted the final three points of the contest.
Joshua finished with eight points (3-10 FG, 2-5 3-FG) and a career-high six assists.
Saint Anselm outshot Le Moyne, 47 percent (31-66) to 41.4 percent (24-58), including 45.5 percent (15-33) to 30.8 percent (4-13) from beyond the arc and 53.3 percent (16-30) to 33.3 percent (10-30) in the second half. The Hawks matched a season best with 27 assists as they turned in a sparking assist-to-turnover ratio of 27/10, while the Dolphins also turned it over just 10 times, but only racked up six helpers. Saint Anselm also won the glass (40-30), while Le Moyne held a narrow edge in the paint (32-30).
Mabrey finished the night with 1,646 career points to pass Todd Manuel, who scored 1,633 points from 1998-02, for ninth place on the program's all-time scoring list.
The Hawks return to action Saturday, Jan. 24 at 3:30 p.m. when they take on the College of Saint Rose. The next home game for the Hawks is Saturday, Jan. 31 at 3:30 p.m. when they play host to American International 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.
