MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) registered a double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds, while sophomore Harrison Taggart (Wallingford, Vt.) scored a career-high 22 points, in the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team's 80-59 victory against Bentley University on Saturday afternoon at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks win for the fifth time in six games, bouncing back from Thursday's 79-78 overtime loss at Southern New Hampshire University, to improve to 14-6 on the season, including 11-5 in Northeast-10 play. Bentley loses for just the third time in 14 games and has its four-game winning streak snapped as it dips to 14-8, 9-7 NE-10.
Santo shot 11-for-16 from the floor, including 1-for-3 from deep, and added a pair of steals and an assist to his stat line. Taggart, who scored 16 of his points in the opening half, was 8-for-15 from the floor and knocked down a career-best six of his nine 3-point attempts, while collecting six rebounds. Senior Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) posted 17 points (6-10 FG, 1-3 3-FG, 4-4 FT), eight rebounds and three assists.
Tyler McFarland led Bentley with 19 points, while Keegan Hyland finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.
With the game tied for the third time at 8-8 over five minutes in, junior Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) put the Hawks in front with a free throw, but five straight points from McFarland opened a 13-9 lead for the Falcons with 11:39 remaining in the opening half. Five points from Mabrey would eventually pull Saint Anselm within one, but another McFarland 3-ball sparked a 6-0 run that gave Bentley its largest lead of the afternoon at 25-18 with 7:12 left.
Taggart then came alive, hitting his first of four 3-pointers over a stretch of 6:38 to spark a run of 12 straight points that was part of a larger 19-2 run, which opened up a 37-23 advantage with 3:23 to go. Taggart, who contributed 11 points during the stretch, then hit his fourth and final triple of the half to send Saint Anselm into the break with a 45-32 lead.
Taggart did not skip a beat in the locker room as he came out and drilled another 3-pointer just 21 seconds into the second half to touch off a balanced 10-4 run that moved the lead to 55-36 with 16:46 to play.
Bentley would reel off six straight points, but six points from Santo buoyed a 9-4 spurt for the Hawks that made it an 18-point game at 64-46 with 11:22 left. After the Falcons trimmed the deficit to 15, old fashioned three-point plays from Mabrey and fellow senior Mark Schulze (Townsend, Mass.), followed be a pair of Santo layups, opened the Hawks' largest lead of the contest at 76-52 with 6:11 on the clock.
Bentley would close the margin to 20 with 4:11 left and both teams entered in their reserves to close out the remainder of the game.
Joshua finished with seven points (2-4 FG, 3-4 FT), a career-high-matching seven rebounds, four assists, a block and a steal, while Schulze added seven points (3-6 FG, 1-1 FT), two rebounds and two assists.
Saint Anselm outshot Bentley, 56.1 percent (32-57) to 33.3 percent (24-72), including 42.1 percent (8-19) to 25 percent (5-20) from beyond the arc. The Hawks were also an efficient 8 of 9 (88.9%) from the line, while the Falcons were just 6 of 14 (42.9%). Saint Anselm held a 44-35 advantage on the glass, but Bentley won the offensive glass, 12-3, for a 10-2 margin in second chance points. The Hawks owned the paint (38-18) and the Falcons featured a better assist-to-turnover ratio (18/8-12/16).
The Hawks return to action Wednesday, Feb. 11 at 7:30 p.m. when they play host to Saint Michael's College in a battle for second place in the Northeast-10's Northeast Division 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.
