EASTON, Mass. – Seniors Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) and Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) scored 19 and 17 points, respectively, as the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team survived Stonehill College with an 81-76 overtime win Saturday afternoon at Merkert Gymnasium.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS

• McCahey scored his 19 on 6 of 11 shooting from the floor, including 1 of 1 from deep, and 6 of 8 shooting from the stripe, while ripping down 11 rebounds.
• Joshua was 8-for-11 from the field and 1 of 3 at the line to go along with three rebounds.
• Junior Harrison Taggart (Wallingford, Vt.) posted 14 points (5-11 FG, 1-4 3-FG, 3-5 FT), nine rebounds and four assists.
• Freshman Tim Guers (Langhorne, Pa.) registered 11 points (3-9 FG, 3-6 3-FG, 2-2 FT) and five rebounds, while sophomore Taylor Fortin (Tolland, Conn.) also added 11 points (3-5 FG, 3-5 3-FG, 2-2 FT), with two rebounds and two assists.

For the foes…

• Ryan Logan paced Stonehill with 24 points, 20 rebounds, three steals and two assists.
• Pierce Cumpstone tallied 14 points, eight rebounds and four blocks off the bench for the Skyhawks.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• A 3-pointer from freshman Cody Ball (Londonderry, N.H.) just 10 seconds into the game set the early tone as Saint Anselm jumped out to a 7-2 lead in the first three minutes of action. A Fortin 3-pointer a short time later capped a 6-0 spurt that gave the Hawks a 13-4 lead five minutes in.
• Stonehill countered with a 7-0 run that was stamped with five points from Cumpstone to pull the hosts within one at 15-14 midway through the stanza. Saint Anselm led 22-20 when it closed the half on a 9-2 run that featured the final four points from Joshua and handed the visitors a 31-22 lead at the break.
• The Hawks pushed their lead as high as 11 on a McCahey layup 2:21 into the second half, but a 9-2 surge from Stonehill sliced its deficit to 42-38 with 14:01 remaining. With the margin still four about four minutes later, a 3-pointer from Guers made it a seven-point game at 49-42 midway through the period.
• Another Fortin trey would nudge the gap to eight at 54-46, but a 10-4 run from Stonehill that was bookended with 3s from Adam Bramanti and Carter Smith trimmed the deficit to 60-56 with 4:05 to go.
• The lead was 64-56 with under three minutes to play in regulation when Smith sank a pair of free throws to make it a four-point game. Bramanti then made a 3-pointer with under a minute left to make it a one-possession game before Cumpstone drilled the game-tying 3 with 12 seconds on the clock. Saint Anselm missed their final shot of regulation with seven seconds left, which gave Stonehill another try that would not go.
• Saint Anselm came out on fire in the overtime session, with 3-pointers from McCahey and Guers highlighting an 8-2 run that put the Hawks in front, 72-66, over a minute in.
• Stonehill would close to within one at 77-76 with 27 seconds on the clock after the always-dependable McCahey missed a pair at the line. Fortin would sink a pair to give Saint Anselm a little more breathing room and McCahey would not miss a second shot to seal it as he drained two freebies with four seconds left to give Saint Anselm the huge road win.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• In his first career start, Ball tallied seven points (2-8 FG, 1-5 3-FG, 2-2 FT), three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
• Saint Anselm outshot Stonehill, 49.1 percent (28-57) to 38.3 percent (31-81), including 42.9 percent (9-21) to 25.9 percent (7-27) from long distance. The Hawks also made more free throws (16) than the Skyhawks attempted (13) and shot a much better percentage (.727-.538).
• Stonehill held advantages on the glass (47-39) and in the paint (44-30), while also owning a 20-8 margin in points off turnovers. The Skyhawks turned it over just 10 times, while the Hawks gave it away 18 times.

NOTES

• Saint Anselm is 4-0 for the first time since the 2004-05 season.
• The Hawks have now won three straight at Stonehill.
• The win marked the Hawks' first overtime victory since Jan. 8, 2014 when they pulled out an 85-83 triumph at New Haven in extra time.

UP NEXT

• The Hawks return to the court Tuesday, Nov. 24 (7:30 p.m.) when they play host to Saint Michael's College at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.

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