RINDGE, N.H. – Senior Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) poured in a game-high 34 points, including 22 in the second half, but the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team fell to Franklin Pierce University, 84-72, Saturday afternoon at the Fieldhouse.
The Hawks lose for just the second time in eight games to drop to 15-7 on the season, including 12-6 in Northeast-10 play, while the Ravens, improve to 14-11, 9-9 NE-10, winning their fifth straight at home against Saint Anselm, dating back to 2010. With Stonehill College and Saint Michael's College both losing, the Hawks retain their one-game lead on second place in the NE-10's Northeast Division, but fall two games behind Southern New Hampshire, which defeated Stonehill.
Santo, who fell one point shy of matching his career high and one rebound shy of his third straight double-double, went 13-for-19 from the field and made 8 of 9 free throws, while collecting nine rebounds. Santo has scored 30-plus points three times over the last five games and is averaging 29.6 ppg during that stretch, which includes two other 20-point performances. Junior Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) was also in double figures with 16 points (7-15 FG, 2-3 FT) to go along with four rebounds and four assists.
Paul Becklens paced Franklin Pierce with 30 points, eight assists and four rebounds.
Things started well for the Hawks as they scored the game's first six points and led, 8-2, after Joshua converted his second bucket just 2:55 in. The Ravens responded, however, ripping off a 19-2 run – with seven points from Becklens and five from Aboubacar Casse – to take control with a 21-10 advantage at the 10:48 mark of the opening half.
A 4-0 spurt would pull the Hawks within seven under a minute later, but a 5-0 counter-run that included a three-point play from Becklens made it 26-14 with 8:42 to play. Six straight points later in the half opened Franklin Pierce's largest lead of the game at 38-22 with 3:35 on the clock.
Santo answered with six straight points about a minute later to make it a 10-point game, but Casse closed the scoring with a left-wing 3-pointer that sent the Ravens into the locker room with a 41-28 advantage.
The Ravens nudged the lead to 15 to begin the second half before Santo scored six straight points to spark a 16-2 burst – with 10 points from Santo and six from Joshua – that slashed the Saint Anselm deficit to a single point at 47-46 with 14:10 to play.
The teams then traded 5-0 spurts before a Tyler Iacuone trey was answered with a layup from senior Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) to make it a two-point game at 55-53 with 9:22 remaining. After the teams swapped buckets, however, Franklin Pierce crafted a 16-2 blitz – with six points from Jacob Jacquo – to run the lead up to 73-57 with 4:22 on the clock.
Saint Anselm would never close to within fewer than 12 as Franklin Pierce went 11-for-12 from the stripe over the final 3:48 to wrap up the win.
Senior Mark Schulze (Townsend, Mass.) posted seven points (3-6 FG, 1-2 FT), a career-high 10 rebounds and three steals, while Mabrey finished with six points (2-10 FG, 2-2 FT) and six boards. Sophomore Harrison Taggart (Wallingford, Vt.) chipped in six points (2-8 FG, 1-5 3-FG, 1-2 FT) and five rebounds.
Franklin Pierce outshot Saint Anselm, 46.6 percent (27-58) to 43.5 percent (27-62), including 41.7 percent (10-24) to 5.9 percent (1-17). The one made 3-pointer is the fewest in a game for the Hawks since they shot the same 1-for-17 at Southern New Hampshire on Feb. 3, 2011.
Saint Anselm won the paint, 48-32, and also outrebounded the Ravens, 38-32, including 13-6 on the offensive backboard for a 15-8 gap in second chance points. Franklin Pierce featured a better assist-to-turnover ratio (15/9-5/14) and held a 22-11 advantage in points off mistakes.
The Hawks return to action Wednesday, Feb. 18 at 7:30 p.m. when they play host to Merrimack College at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium. 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.
