MANCHESTER, N.H. – Senior Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J.) scored a game-high 25 points and classmate Roy Mabrey (Belmar, N.J.) chimed in with 22 points to lead the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team to Sunday afternoon's 84-73 Northeast-10 Championship quarterfinal victory against Le Moyne College at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
The Hawks, seeded second in the Northeast Division, improve to 18-8 on the season and advance to Wednesday's (7 p.m.) semifinal round for the third straight season. Saint Anselm will host the Northeast's No. 4 seed, Saint Michael's College, which knocked off the Southwest's top seed, Southern Connecticut State University, 81-79, on Sunday. The Hawks, who are 9-3 at home this year, win for the ninth time in 12 contests, including the seventh time in eight games at Stoutenburgh. Saint Anselm also defeats Le Moyne for the seventh time in eight tries, including the third straight overall and fourth-in-a-row at home. The Dolphins, seeded third in the Southwest, wrap up their season at 16-13 overall.
Saint Anselm improves to 44-26 (.629) all-time in the Northeast-10 Championship, including 20-9 in the quarterfinal round, 11-2 as a No. 2 seed and 3-2 against Le Moyne. The Hawks, who have not advanced to the title game since 2006, will play in their 21st semifinal and host their third consecutive. They are 2-0 against the Purple Knights in the NE-10 Championship.
Santo converted 11 of 15 field goal attempts and went 3-for-4 from the line, while pulling down eight rebounds and making three steals. Mabrey hit 8 of 13 shots from the floor, including 6 of 10 from long range, to go along with four assists and two rebounds. Fellow senior Mark Schulze (Townsend, Mass.) added 14 points (6-11 FG, 1-3 3-FG, 1-2 FT), three assists, three steals and two rebounds. Junior Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) was also in double figures with 10 points (2-2 FG, 6-6 FT) and five helpers.
Qwadere Lovell paced the Dolphins with 21 points, while Stan Buczek finished with 19 points and nine rebounds. Ryan Romich posted 13 points and 11 boards.
The opening five minutes featured five lead changes, with a driving layup from Joshua giving the Hawks the lead and sparking a 6-0 run that Joshua capped with another bucket to put Saint Anselm up 13-8 with 15:15 remaining in the opening half.
With the margin still at five over a minute later, a 10-2 Le Moyne run – with 3-pointers from Connor Mahoney and Lovell – gave the Dolphins a 20-17 lead midway through the half. Five straight points from Mabrey triggered a run of eight straight Saint Anselm points that put the hosts back in front, 25-20, with 7:23 left. Mabrey capped the stretch with a steal and a good fastbreak pass to Santo, who absorbed contact, converted the layup and completed the three-point play at the line.
Le Moyne trailed by four over three minutes later when a 6-0 spurt – with four points from Buczek – gave the Dolphins a 34-32 edge with 2:44 to play. Saint Anselm responded by ripping off an 11-1 run to close the half and grab a 43-35 advantage at the break. Santo scored four points during the run, including two at the buzzer as he poked away a defensive rebound from Lovell and knocked down a jumper from inside the left elbow.
Five straight points to open the second half from Lovell powered a 7-0 run that trimmed Le Moyne's deficit to 43-42 just 2:18 in. After the teams swapped baskets, seven points from Schulze carried a 16-6 burst that opened the Hawks' lead to 61-50 with 11:52 remaining.
Le Moyne climbed back within eight on a Mahoney 3-pointer, but Saint Anselm answered with a 13-6 wave – with five points each from Santo and Mabrey – that was capped by a trey from sophomore Harrison Taggart (Wallingford, Vt.) to open up the Hawks' largest lead of the afternoon at 74-59 with 6:36 left.
The Dolphins put together a 9-2 counter-run that slashed the deficit to76-68 with 2:12 to go, but two pairs of Joshua free throws bookended an 8-2 stretch for the Hawks that sealed the win at 84-70 with 31 seconds left.
Taggart notched eight points (3-7 FG, 2-6 3-FG), six boards and five assists, while junior Ryan Hartung (Haverhill, Mass.) chipped in five points (2-7 FG, 1-5 3-FG).
Saint Anselm outshot Le Moyne, 58.2 percent (32-55) to 51.6 percent (32-62), including 41.7 percent (10-24) to 40 percent (4-10) from beyond the arc. The Hawks were also better from the line, 76.9 percent (10-13) to 55.6 percent (5-9), and featured a better assist-to-turnover ratio (18/6-9/10). The Dolphins controlled the glass, 32-24, including 14-6 on the offensive end, in addition to winning the paint, 50-40.
The Hawks return to action Wednesday, March 4 at 7 p.m. when they play host to Saint Michael's College in a Northeast-10 Championship semifinal tilt 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.
