WORCESTER, Mass. – Senior Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) scored a game-high 24 points as the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team erased an eight-point deficit with less than eight minutes to play to earn an 86-76 win against Assumption College on Saturday afternoon at Laska Gymnasium.
The Hawks, who clinch the No. 2 seed in the Northeast Division for the upcoming Northeast-10 Championship, win for the eighth time in 10 games to improve to 17-7 on the season and 14-6 in NE-10 play. Saint Anselm earns a first round bye for the tournament and will play host to the Southwest's No. 3 seed in the quarterfinal round Sunday, March 1. As currently situated, that third seed would be Le Moyne College, but would become the University of New Haven with a Chargers' win against Adelphi on Tuesday and a Le Moyne loss to Pace. The Hawks also defeat Assumption for the sixth time in seven tries, including the third straight, and just the second time in the last seven meetings at Laska. The Greyhounds sink to 8-17, 5-15 NE-10.
The win is the 550th career victory for head coach Keith Dickson, who reaches the milestone in just his 849th game on the bench.
Mabrey was an efficient 8-for-12 from the field, including 4-for-6 from beyond the arc, and a perfect 4-for-4 at the line, while corralling six rebounds. Mabrey finished the day with 1,790 points to move past Matt Burdick, who scored 1,782 points from 1978-82, for fifth place on the program's all-time scoring list.
Senior Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) tallied 17 points (6-13 FG, 5-7 FT), eight rebounds, two blocks, two steals and an assist in just 23 minutes due to foul trouble. Junior Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) netted 16 points (6-12 FG, 1-3 3-FG, 3-3 FT), handed out three assists and grabbed two rebounds, while sophomore Harrison Taggart (Wallingford, Vt.) posted 12 points (3-8 FG, 1-5 3-FG, 5-5 FT) and six boards.
Kamali Bey paced Assumption with 23 points, while Karl Ziegler added 19.
Saint Anselm opened the game on a 14-3 run over the opening 5:09 that included eight points from Mabrey. The Hawks grabbed their largest lead of the contest at 21-8 with 12:23 remaining in the half, but a 14-1 burst from Assumption later in the half – with six points from Terrance Bobb-Jones and four from Bey – gave the Greyhounds their first lead of the game at 30-28 with 4:55 left.
With the Assumption lead up to four, a big right-corner 3-pointer from freshman Taylor Fortin (Tolland, Conn.) and a pair of free throws from Taggart put Saint Anselm back in front, 35-34, with 1:25 to go. Fortin would then answer an Assumption score with a pair at the line with 5.4 seconds on the clock to send the Hawks into the break with a 37-36 lead. Saint Anselm improved to 15-1 when in front at halftime.
Saint Anselm opened the second stanza with four straight points following a Joshua triple that opened a 41-36 lead 2:34 in. Just over two minutes later, however, a Jack Sullivan 3-pointer triggered a 13-2 wave for Assumption that featured seven points from Bey and built a 51-45 lead for the hosts with 12:04 to play.
A Bey layup with 8:46 on the clock gave Assumption its largest lead of the afternoon at 59-51. The margin was still eight with 7:35 remaining when a Mabrey trey sparked an 11-2 run for the Hawks – with three points each from Mabrey, Taggart and Joshua – that put them back in front at 66-65 with 6:02 left.
After a Bobb-Jones basket gave the Greyhounds the lead for the final time, a Santo layup gave the Hawks the lead for good and jump-started a 10-2 run – with four points each from Santo and Mabrey – to run the advantage to 76-69 with just under three minutes to go.
It was a two-possession game with under a minute left when Taggart nailed a dagger 3 from the left wing to all but seal the win at 81-72. Ziegler would add two pairs of free throws, while the Hawks finished 5 of 6 at the line to close it out.
Senior Mark Schulze (Townsend, Mass.) chipped in seven points (2-7 FG, 3-6 FT), four rebounds and four assists, while Fortin added five points (1-2 FG, 1-2 3-FG, 2-2 FT) in just nine minutes.
Assumption outshot Saint Anselm, 47.5 percent (28-59) to 46.4 percent (26-56), while the Hawks were better from long range, 30.4 percent (7-23) to 20 percent (2-10). Both teams were solid at the line, but Saint Anselm was plus-11 as it went 27-for-35 (77.1%) to Assumption's 18-for-23 (78.3%) performance. Assumption won both the glass (36-33) and the paint (36-34), while the Hawks turned it over just 12 times and forced 16 Greyhound mistakes for a 20-13 advantage in points off turnovers. They also owned a 17-11 margin in second chance points.
The Hawks return to action Tuesday, Feb. 24 at 7:30 p.m. when they play host to Stonehill College on Senior Day 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.
