MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College men's basketball team led midway through the second half, but could not hang on, as Le Moyne College defeated the Hawks, 67-65, on Tuesday night in Northeast-10 Conference action at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium in Manchester, N.H.
Box Score
The Hawks fall to 6-6 overall and 4-6 in the NE10, while Le Moyne improves to 12-3 and 7-2 in league games. Saint Anselm is back in action on Thursday afternoon when they travel to NYIT for a 1 p.m. game.
Chris Braley led three players in double-figures with a double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds in the setback. Taylor Fortin knocked down 5-of-8 three-pointers en route to 17 points and seven assists, while Grant Mackay added 10 points and three steals.
Le Moyne was led by 13 points from Tyree Chambers, while Russell Sangster added 12 points and Isaiah Eisendorf had 11 points and four steals. Stan Buczek nearly had a double-double with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Saint Anselm fell into an early 5-0 hole to start the game, but answered with an 8-0 run including four points from Chris Braley to take an 8-5 lead with 16:51 to play in the first. Braley later tied the game and gave the Hawks a one-point lead with a three-point play to put the home team on top 27-26 with 7:30 remaining.
Kyle Green put the Hawks in front 31-26 with a jumper before Taylor Fortin canned a triple at the 3:13 mark to keep Saint Anselm ahead 34-30. Another Fortin triple following a layup by Braley made it a 39-32 game nearly a minute later, and the Hawks would carry that advantage into halftime.
Cody Ball opened the second half with a triple, but the Dolphins answered with six-straight points to trim the lead to 42-36. Ball buried another three-pointer at the 16:40 mark, and back-to-back layups by Braley and Grant Mackay followed by another triple from Fortin extended the Saint Anselm advantage to 52-38.
After Chris Braley and Tyree Chambers exchanged free throws, Taylor Fortin buried another three-pointer to give the Hawks their largest lead of the game at 57-42 and 11:28 remaining in regulation. Le Moyne answered with five-straight points to get back to within 10, before Mackay rattled home a dunk to make it a 59-47 game.
A Taylor Fortin layup at the 6:39 mark put Saint Anselm in front 63-51, but it would unfortunately turn out to be the final made field goal of the game for the Hawks. Le Moyne would respond by going on a 14-2 run, including 12-straight points during the stretch, to tie the game at 65-65 and only 1:38 to play. The only points for the Hawks during the run would come from a pair of Tim Guers free throws.
Saint Anselm had the first chance to take the lead, but Braley was called for an offensive foul. On the following Le Moyne possession, the Hawks were able to force a miss and get the rebound, but came up empty on their next possession leading to a timeout for the Dolphins with 31 seconds remaining.
Out of the timeout, Le Moyne cycled through their offense and eventually Sangster ended up at the top of the key with Mackay on him. Sangster drove to his left and got inside five feet, working his way around Mackay while somehow keeping his balance, and laying the ball in to give the Dolphins a 67-65 lead with 12 seconds remaining.
Taylor Fortin came down and attempted a pull-up jumper with five seconds remaining, but his shot was sent away by Daniel Kaigler. After a Hawk timeout, the ball ended up in Tim Guers' hands at the top of the key and after a dribble to his right, he fired away from 25 feet out, but his shot hit the back of the rim as the Dolphins escaped with the two-point victory.
Saint Anselm ended the game shooting 49% (24-of-49) from the field, 40% (8-of-20) from beyond the arc and 69.2% (9-of-13) from the charity stripe in the setback. Le Moyne knocked down 43.6% (24-of-55) of their shots from the floor, 40% (8-of-20) of their triples and 68.8% (11-of-16) of their free throws. The Hawks outrebounded Le Moyne 34-29, but committed 20 turnovers to just 15 for the Dolphins, leading to 21 points off turnovers for Le Moyne.
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