BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Senior Chris Paul (Highland Mills, N.Y.) scored a game-high 23 points to push the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team past the University of Bridgeport on Wednesday in non-conference play.
Winning by a 90-82 margin, the Hawks have won three games in a row to move to 3-2 overall. Bridgeport, the top seed in the canceled 2020 NCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship, slips to 2-5.
Paul helped the Hawks score a season-high 90 points and became just the 15th student-athlete to reach 1,500 career points in a Saint Anselm uniform. He completed the double-double with 12 rebounds, joining Matt Becker (Fairfield, Conn.) in double-digit rebounding – the sophomore had 18 points and reeled in 12 caroms with six assists.
Senior Gustav Suhr-Jessen (Virum, Denmark) had 19 points, four rebounds and three assists while classmate Joey Belli (Wayne, N.J.) had 12 points with three steals, leading the Hawks in the latter category. Senior Miles Tention (Palo Alto, Calif.) handed out three of his team's 20 assists on the evening.
The Hawks jumped out to a 15-6 lead in the game's first three-plus minutes, thanks to seven quick points by Suhr-Jessen. Saint Anselm led by as many as 14 points in the first half, but Bridgeport closed on a 21-12 scoring run that spanned the final seven-plus minutes of the opener. Saint Anselm held on to the lead thanks to a 52.8% field goal percentage and by posting 11 of the half's 19 assists.
Maintaining the lead to begin the second half, sophomore Josh Menard (Higganum, Conn.) hit a big three, elevating the guests to a 60-47 lead with 13:37 to go. Bridgeport slowed the Hawks momentum shortly thereafter, scoring 10 points in the game's next 2:03 to reduce the Saint Anselm lead to 60-57.
Suhr-Jessen once again stepped up and answered for the Hawks, scoring four of his team's next six points to up their lead to 66-57 with 9:10 remaining. Bridgeport's response trimmed the lead to just three points once again, connecting on back-to-back three's with 7:44 to go.
A six-point scoring run for the Hawks shortly followed, putting the game out of reach. A key offensive rebound by Paul with 7:25 to go set up the big run for the Hawks. Bridgeport was able to shrink the lead to five, but with 1:01 left, the Purple Knights were not left with enough time to complete the comeback as the Hawks went 7-for-8 from the free throw line to close out the game.
Saint Anselm was exactly 50% from the floor, making 34 of their 68 field goals, and buried 16 of their foul shots. The Hawks also owned the edge in rebounds, 40-to-37, and dominated the paint by a 54-to-28 margin.
The Hawks host Stonehill this Sunday, Dec. 5 at 3:30 p.m. in what will be the final Northeast-10 Conference game of 2021.
