Box Score
MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College men's basketball team overcame a nine-point second half deficit to rally for a 96-90 win over Merrimack College in Northeast-10 Conference action on Saturday afternoon in Manchester, N.H. The Hawks improve to 7-1 overall and 4-1 in the NE-10, while the Warriors fall to 5-4 and 1-3 in the NE-10.
Merrimack opened the game on a 6-0 run and eventually led 18-10 with 11:49 remaining in the opening half. Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) sandwiched a pair of jumpers around a Cody Ball (Londonderry, N.H.) triple to pull the Hawks to within one at 18-17. After a three by the Warriors, Joshua continued to keep the Hawks in the game as he rolled in a layup and then connected on a three to give the Hawks their first lead of the game at 22-21.
The Warriors withstood the run and regained the lead at 35-29, but Saint Anselm answered with a 7-0 run on a three from Taylor Fortin (Tolland, Conn.) and back-to-back buckets from Chris Braley (Newport, Maine) and Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) to take a 36-35 advantage with 3:14 to play in the period.
Cody Ball connected on his second triple of the half to keep the Hawks within one at 40-39, but the Warriors scored the final four points of the period to take a 44-39 lead into the half.
The two teams traded baskets to open the second period and a three from Harrison Taggart (Wallingford, Vt.) made it a 53-49 game with 15:29 remaining. Gelvis Solano hit a layup and Troy Hammel connected on a deep three on the next two Merrimack possessions to give the Warriors their largest lead of the game at 58-49 with 14:17 to play.
Tim Guers (Langhorne, Pa.) started the rally for the Hawks with a triple, and a Grant Mackay (North Berwick, Scotland) tip-in followed by a Victor Joshua layup cut the deficit to 60-58. Joshua eventually tied the game at 62-all before Fortin canned a triple to put the Hawks on top 65-64 with 8:42 to play.
Again the game went back-and forth with the lead changing hands several times. Guers kept the Hawks within one at 70-69 with a layup, but JT Strickland connected on a three as Merrimack went up by four with 6:14 to play. Harrison Taggart answered with a three of his own and then hit another on the next possession to give the Hawks a 75-74 advantage.
Joshua hit a layup in traffic to give the Hawks an 81-78 lead and a Guers triple at the 3:42 mark finally gave Saint Anselm some breathing room at 84-79 with under four minutes remaining. McCahey hit a pair of free throws to go up 86-79, but the Warriors answered back with three-straight baskets to claw back to within one at 86-85.
A personal 5-0 run from Taggart extended the lead to 91-85 before back-to-back perfect trips to the charity stripe from Joshua and Guers gave the Hawks their largest lead of the game at 95-87. Merrimack would hit a late three to get back within two possessions, but the Warriors missed all of their shots down the stretch as the Hawks held on for the 96-90 victory.
All five starters reached double-figures in scoring led by 24 points, four rebounds, and four assists from Victor Joshua. Chris Braley posted a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Harrison Taggart connected on 4-of-8 three-pointers en route to 18 points and six rebounds. Tim Guers chipped in 17 points, four rebounds, and three assists, while Mike McCahey added 10 points.
Merrimack was led by 27 points from Gelvis Solano with JT Strickland adding 25 points on 10-of-14 shooting including 5-of-7 three-pointers.
Saint Anselm shot 50.7% (34-67) on the night including a 15-of-34 showing from beyond the arc. The Hawks grabbed 42 rebounds to 39 for the Warriors, and committed 13 turnovers to just nine for Merrimack.
The Hawks are back in action on Wednesday night when they travel to Assumption College for a 7:30 p.m. NE-10 meeting with the Greyhounds.
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