SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Thanks to a steal and score by junior Matt Becker (Fairfield, Conn.) with just over 10 seconds left in regulation time, the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team captured a 58-56 victory on the road at American International College on Thursday in Northeast-10 Conference play.
The Hawks improve to 6-3 with their fourth consecutive victory and has won 19 of the last 23 games played against American International (3-7, 2-3 NE10). Saint Anselm will host Jefferson on Saturday, Dec. 17 at 1 p.m. in non-league play.
In the final four minutes of regulation time, just six combined points were scored. It was the Hawks, however, who scored last as a botched inbounds play by American International with the score tied at 56 was picked off by Becker and carried up the floor for the game-winning basket with 10 seconds left.
The Yellow Jackets followed with two desperation shots in the paint, but neither was a quality scoring opportunity as the Hawks defense held up when it mattered the most.
Becker finished with 13 points, hauling in 11 rebounds and dishing out six assists in the well-rounded effort. Senior Owen McGlashan (Marlton, N.J.) scored a game-high 17 points with eight rebounds to his credit as the Hawks controlled the glass, 39-to-26.
A key 13-3 scoring stretch for Saint Anselm just minutes into the first half created a 15-7 advantage for the Hawks on the road. Becker had six of his team's points in that stretch, finishing the first half with six points, five rebounds and five assists.
Saint Anselm grew its lead to 24-11 with 10:21 left in the opener, thanks to a seven-point scoring run by the Hawks. AIC responded with a 12-2 spurt, shrinking the Hawks lead to 26-23, but the Hawks would maintain a four-point advantage at halftime despite a last-second triple by the Yellow Jackets.
After a five-point start to the second half, the Yellow Jackets fired off 11 points in a row to take a 37-35 lead with 14:49 left. Saint Anselm would fire back with a 10-3 spurt, re-capturing a 47-42 lead with under 10 minutes to go in regulation time – the Hawks missed just one of their five field goals in that span.
From that point forward, Saint Anselm conceded nine consecutive points and fell behind by a 51-47 margin with 6:35 to go. The Hawks scored seven of the game's next 10 points to tie the game at 54 with 4:08 to go, but additional points were at a premium for both teams down the stretch.
