MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College men's basketball team rallied to make it a one-point game in the final minute of regulation, but Southern New Hampshire University pulled away late for a 74-68 win over the Hawks in Northeast-10 Conference action on Wednesday night at the SNHU Fieldhouse in Manchester, N.H.
Box Score
The Hawks fall to 0-1 with the setback and return to action on Saturday afternoon when they host Stonehill College at 3:30 p.m. in a rematch of the 2016 NCAA East Regional Final.
Taylor Fortin scored a career-high 18 points and grabbed six rebounds to go with three assists to lead the Hawks. Chris Braley added 13 points and four rebounds, while Cody Ball had 12 points, four rebounds and three steals. Tim Guers rounded out the scorers in double-figures with 11 points, six rebounds, and three steals.
Harrison Taggart had an all-around game with nine points, eight rebounds, six assists, one steal and one block.
After Taggart knocked down a three to put the Hawks in front 6-5, Cody Ball stole the ball at midcourt and coasted in for a two-handed slam to put Saint Anselm in front 8-5. However, SNHU answered with a 7-2 run as a Dimitri Floras triple gave the Penmen a 12-10 lead at the first media timeout.
Out of the second media timeout, Taylor Fortin knocked down a triple in the corner, and then stole the inbounds pass leading to a 1-for-2 trip at the line from Tim Guers that made it an 18-16 deficit. Brenden Vessichio's first career points on a three gave the Hawks a 19-18 lead with 10:54 remaining in the opening half.
Both offenses stalled over the next couple of minutes until Devin Gilligan hit a fade-away in the paint to put the Penmen back on top 20-19 with 8:32 remaining. On the next possession, Gilligan tipped home a miss and converted a free throw to go up 23-19, and then scored the next time down to give the Penmen a 25-19 lead.
Taylor Fortin canned his second three of the game on the next Saint Anselm possession to cut the deficit in half at 25-22, but Gilligan finished off another three-point play at the 5:53 mark to push the Penmen lead back to six. Adrian Oliveira scored inside on the next trip down the floor for SNHU, but Cody Ball answered with a pull-up jumper to keep it a six-point game.
With just over three minutes to play, Jerome Harris scored inside and Gilligan struck again with a three-ball to force a Saint Anselm timeout with the Penmen on top 37-27. Cody Ball ended the scoring drought by hitting a three to cut the deficit to 37-30, but the Hawks entered the half trailing 40-30.
Early in the second period, Tim Guers went on a personal 6-2 run before Harrison Taggart found a slashing Taylor Fortin for a layup inside to cut the deficit to 44-40 as the game entered the first media timeout with 15:01 to play.
The Penmen answered with a 7-2 run to take a 51-42 lead, but Taylor Fortin buried another three in the corner to keep the Hawks within striking distance at 51-45 and 13:14 remaining. A pair of Harrison Taggart free throws two minutes later cut the deficit to only 53-49, but the Penmen stretched their lead back to 60-51 following a three from Floras.
Chris Braley scored eight-straight points for the Hawks, but the Penmen continued to match him on the other end as Floras rolled in a jumper at the 4:36 mark to give SNHU a 66-59 lead. Braley's 10th-straight point cut the deficit to 66-59 with 3:35 remaining as the game headed into its final media timeout.
Braley scored inside and made it a 67-62 game before Fortin drew a charge on Gilligan, getting him to foul out. On the next Hawk possession, Taggart found Guers inside for two as Saint Anselm made it a one possession game at 67-64. Guers answered a pair of Chris Walters free throws with a layup to keep it a 69-66 game, and Harrison Taggart hit two free throws of his own to pull the Hawks to within one at 69-68 and only 44.1 seconds remaining.
The Penmen shot 5-for-6 at the charity stripe while holding Saint Anselm scoreless through the end of the game as SNHU held on for the 74-68 victory.
It was a tough shooting night for the Hawks as they only hit 24-of-66 (36.4%) of their shot attempts while connecting on 7-of-27 (25.9%) three-pointers. SNHU shot 46.7% (28-of-60) from the floor, while holding a 41-37 edge in rebounds. The Hawks committed only 12 turnovers to 14 for the Penmen, which Saint Anselm turned into 24 points.
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