Box Score
PLEASANTVILLE, N.Y. – Five players scored in double-figures as the #13/15-ranked Saint Anselm College men's basketball team won its sixth-straight game with an 85-66 victory at Pace University on Wednesday night in Pleasantville, N.Y.
The Hawks improve to 12-1 overall and 7-1 in the Northeast-10 Conference with the win and are off to the best start in program history since the 1960-61 team started 14-1. Pace falls to 6-9 and 3-4 in league games.
Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) knocked down 6-of-7 three-pointers en route to a game-high 20 points to go with five rebounds and four assists. Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) added a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds, while Chris Braley (Newport, Maine) netted 17 points of his own. Harrison Taggart (Wallingford, Vt.) scored 13 points and added six rebounds and two assists. Tim Guers (Langhorne, Pa.) joined them in double-figures with 11 points while handing out five assists.
Pace was led by 15 points from Ryan Peterson and Kyle Pearson had 13 points and nine rebounds.
Mike McCahey helped give the Hawks a 9-2 lead early in the opening half, but Pace fought their way back into the game and tied it at 16-all following a Ryan Peterson three-ball. Grant Mackay (North Berwick, Scotland) hit a pair of free throws and Victor Joshua scored four-straight points to put the Hawks back on top by six at 22-16.
Austin Mofunanya capped an 8-1 run by the Setters that gave Pace a short-lived 24-23 lead, and the two teams went back-and-forth until Chris Braley hit a layup to stake the visitors to a 33-30 lead with 4:16 remaining in the half. Ryan Pearson would cut the Saint Anselm lead to 35-34, but Joshua nailed back-to-back triples near the end of the half to take a 41-34 lead, and the Hawks carried a 41-36 advantage into the break.
After halftime, the two teams traded blows but the Hawk lead never fell below five points. Tim Guers sparked a 14-2 run by the Hawks that included five points from Braley and four from Guers to give Saint Anselm a 59-42 lead with 14:34 to play. Back-to-back threes from Joshua and McCahey staked Saint Anselm to a 65-44 advantage nearly two minutes later.
Pace would cut the lead to 15 with 8:27 to play, but another big run by Saint Anselm – this time a 15-4 stretch capped by five-straight points from Taggart - that would give the Hawks their largest lead of the game at 85-59 and put the game out of reach.
Saint Anselm shot 41.8% (28-67) from the field in the game including 13-of-24 (54.2%) three-pointers. The Hawks outrebounded Pace 37-36 and committed only six turnovers on the night.
The Hawks hit the floor on Saturday afternoon when they take on the College of Saint Rose at 3:30 p.m. in an NE-10 matchup.
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