Box Score
MANCHESTER, N.H. – The #13/15-ranked Saint Anselm College men's basketball team overcame a 10-point first half deficit to rally for an 83-70 victory over visiting Saint Rose College on Saturday afternoon in Northeast-10 Conference action at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium in Manchester, N.H.
The Hawks (13-1, 8-1 NE-10) are off to the second-best start in program history and are only one win away from tying the best mark at 14-1 set during the 1960-61 season. Saint Rose falls to 6-8 overall and 4-4 in league games with the setback.
Harrison Taggart (Wallingford, Vt.) scored a career-high 27 points on 9-of-13 shooting and 6-of-9 free throws to lead the Hawks. Taggart also added eight rebounds, five assists, two steals, and two blocks in the win. Cody Ball (Londonderry, N.H.) was crucial off the bench, scoring 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting to go with five rebounds and a pair of steals.
Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn.) joined them in double-figures with 13 points and five assists and has scored in double-digits in five-straight games, and 13-of-14 contests this season. Chris Braley (Newport, Maine) grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds, while Tim Guers (Langhorne, Pa.) added six rebounds and three assists.
Saint Rose was led by a double-double of 10 points and 12 rebounds from Julian Lipinski, while Mical-Ryan Boyd scored 15 points off the bench, and Sam Eckstrom chipped in 14 of his own.
The two teams traded blows to open the game before a 6-0 run by the Golden Knights gave Saint Rose a 14-9 lead and forced a Saint Anselm timeout. The stoppage in play helped the Hawks as they rattled off an 8-2 run finished off by a Grant Mackay (North Berwick, Scotland) jumper from the top of the key to put the Hawks on top 17-16.
Cody Ball converted a layup at the 7:03 mark to leave the Hawks down by one at 22-21, and the Golden Knights used another run – this time a 9-1 stretch – to grab their largest lead of the game at 31-21 and force another Hawk timeout. Saint Anselm slowly tried to chip away and a Ryan Hartung (Haverhill, Mass.) three-ball cut the deficit to 38-31 with 1:25 remaining. Hartung later converted a layup inside and Taggart knocked down 1-of-2 free throws to make it a 38-34 game headed into the half.
Taggart wasted no time knotting the game at 38-38 as he hit the first two shots of the second stanza. A Taggart triple at the 16:33 mark put the Hawks in front 41-39, but back-to-back three from Saint Rose's Mical-Ryan Boyd gave the visitors a 45-41 lead.
Cody Ball started the comeback with a layup, sparking a 17-0 run by the Hawks that gave them a commanding 58-45 lead with 11:33 to play following a three from Victor Joshua. Ball scored seven points in the run, while Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y.) added five of his own.
Saint Rose would only get within 10 the rest of the game as the Hawks built leads in excess of 20 points en route to the 83-70 victory.
The Hawks overcame a slow start to the game to shoot 50.8% (31-of-61) from the floor including a 52.6% (10-of-19) clip from beyond the arc. Saint Anselm won the rebounding battle 42-35, but committed 14 turnovers to just 11 for Saint Rose. The Golden Knights shot 40.9% (27-of-66) from the floor on the evening.
Saint Anselm will try and make it eight-straight wins on Tuesday night when they travel to Le Moyne College for a 7:00 p.m. meeting with the Dolphins in NE-10 action.
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