BURLINGTON, Vt. – Playing in its first game in over 600 days, the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team was downed by NCAA Division I Vermont on Saturday by a 94-72 score in exhibition play.
Senior Miles Tention (Palo Alto, Calif.) was the leading scorer for Saint Anselm, pouring home 26 points on 10-for-21 shooting. Senior Gustav Suhr-Jessen (Virum, Denmark) was responsible for 18 points, connecting on seven of his 10 shots, and the duo of sophomore Matt Becker (Fairfield, Conn.) and senior Alonzo Jackson (Medford, Mass.) each had six rebounds in the defeat.
Senior Chris Paul (Highland Mills, N.Y.) had a team-leading four assists and he was matched for the team lead in steals (two) with Becker. The senior finished with eight points for the Hawks, who begin the season receiving votes in the National Association of Basketball Coaches' Division II Preseason Poll.
Saint Anselm owned the statistical edge in offensive rebounding (nine-to-six) and committed just 11 of the game's 26 total turnovers, but the Catamounts finished by shooting 62.3% for the game while pouring home 14-of-25 shots from beyond the arc. Vermont also controlled the paint (44-to-30) and pulled down 36 rebounds, limiting Saint Anselm to just 29 caroms.
The Hawks trailed Vermont by just one point with 11:03 left in the opening half as a Jackson layup created a 14-13 deficit for Saint Anselm. From there, a 12-0 scoring run by the Catamounts created a 26-13 edge – during that scoring spurt for Vermont, the Hawks were 0-for-5 from the floor and saw five baskets on the other end fall through.
Saint Anselm crawled back into the game by making its next six shots, using a 12-7 scoring run to trail Vermont by just a 33-25 margin with 4:14 to go in the opener. Suhr-Jessen and Tention each had six points each in that span. The Catamounts pulled away down the stretch, creating an 11-point differential heading into the locker room.
Vermont's 48-37 lead at halftime was fueled by shooting nearly 70% from the floor in the first 20 minutes of game play. Suhr-Jessen had 16 points in the first half, doing his part to keep the Hawks in the game at the break.
Vermont put the game out of reach to start the second half, opening the frame with a 23-7 scoring run that included 15 of the first 17 points out of halftime. The Catamounts lead grew to a game-high 29 points with 9:01 left, but the Hawks countered with 20 of the game's next 29 points to reduce the deficit to 89-71 with 1:08 to go.
Ben Shungu, who was named to the America East Preseason All-Conference Team, was a perfect eight-for-eight from the floor for Vermont while finishing off each of his three shots from distance. Ryan Davis, the reigning America East Player of the Year, scored 17 points in 16 minutes for the Catamounts.
Saint Anselm opens its season on Wednesday, Nov. 17 against Bentley in Stoutenburgh Gymnasium. The opening tip is slated for 7:30 p.m.
