MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) dropped a game-high 32 points to lead the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team to Wednesday evening's 105-81 dusting of Merrimack College at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks, who have won seven of nine, including six straight at home – all by 20 or more points – improve to 16-7 on the season and 13-6 in Northeast-10 play. The Hawks maintain their one-game lead on Stonehill College and Saint Michael's College – both winners Wednesday – for second place in the Northeast Division. Southern New Hampshire University, which also was victorious Wednesday, clinched at least a share of the regular-season crown and the top seed for the upcoming Northeast-10 Championship. The Warriors dip to 13-11, 8-11 NE-10.
Mabrey, who reached 30 points for the fourth time in his career and scored 32 against Merrimack for the second time, was 13-for-19 from the field, including 5-for-10 from beyond the arc, and 1-for-2 from the stripe, while collecting four rebounds. Classmate Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) posted 17 points (8-15 FG, 1-3 FT), 10 rebounds, five assists, two steals and a block for his third double-double in the last four games. Fellow senior Mark Schulze (Townsend, Mass.) also put together a nice performance with 12 points (5-9 FG, 2-3 3-FG), six assists, five rebounds, three blocks and a steal.
Sophomore Harrison Taggart (Wallingford, Vt.) registered 11 points (4-7 FG, 2-5 3-FG, 1-2 FT), nine rebounds, two assists and two steals, while junior Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) finished with 10 points (4-8 FG, 2-3 FT), seven assists, four rebounds and a pair of swipes.
Gelvis Solano and Travonne Berry-Rogers both finished with a team-high 18 points for Merrimack.
Saint Anselm trailed, 6-2, early on when a Mabrey 3-pointer at the 17:39 mark set in motion a 31-5 barrage that featured 11 points from Mabrey, as well as six each from Santo and Taggart, and ripped open a 33-11 advantage with 11:32 remaining in the first half.
With the margin at 17 more than five minutes later, a balanced 11-2 stretch from the Hawks – triggered by a three-point play from freshman Kyle Green (Woodbury Heights, N.J.) – ran the lead to a half-high 26 points at 53-27 with 3:13 to play. Saint Anselm would take a 59-34 advantage into the locker room.
With the margin at 24 over two-and-a-half minutes into the second frame, the Hawks used an 11-2 burst – with eight points from Mabrey, who bookended the run with triples – to grab their largest lead of the game at 76-43 with 15:28 to go.
A personal 7-1 run from Berry-Rogers later in the half trimmed the Merrimack deficit to 85-63 with 8:23 on the clock, but a 15-4 stretch – with nine points from freshman Taylor Fortin (Tolland, Conn.) – dragged the lead back to 33 at 102-69 with 4:10 left. With the reserves into the game, Merrimack closed the contest on a 12-3 run.
Fortin tallied nine points (3-5 FG, 3-5 3-FG), three rebounds, two assists and a steal in 13 minutes off the bench.
Saint Anselm outshot Merrimack, 56.9 percent (41-72) to 50 percent (34-68), including 42.9 percent (12-28) to 27.3 percent (6-22) from beyond the arc and 62.2 percent (23-37) to 37.8 percent (14-37) in the opening half. The Hawks won the glass, 43-31, including 11-6 on the offensive end for a 13-4 advantage in second chance points, and featured a better assist-to-turnover ratio (26/13-11/14). The Warriors held a slight edge in the paint, 46-42.
Mabrey finished the night with 1,766 points to move past Darren Clough, who scored 1,760 points from 1992-96, for sixth place on the program's all-time scoring list.
The Hawks return to action Saturday, Feb. 21 at 3:30 p.m. when they take on Assumption College. The next and final regular-season home game for the Hawks is Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. when they play host to Stonehill College on Senior Day 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.
