MANCHESTER, N.H. - Sophomore
Josh Morissette (Exeter, N.H.) broke the program's and conference's all-time single-game record with 12 made three-pointers on his way to a career-high 42 point night to power the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team to a huge Northeast-10 Conference victory over in-state rival Franklin Pierce University on Tuesday evening. Morissette's 42 points are tied for the fourth-most in a single game in program history and are the most in a single game since Chris Vetrano put up 42 for the Hawks back in 2007. It it just the 45th time in NCAA Division II history that a men's basketball player has knocked down 12 or more three pointers in a single game. Fifth-year
Tyler Arbuckle (Bristol, Conn.) notched his first career double-double, recording 27 points and a career-best 12 rebounds to go along with five assists.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm has 10 days off before hitting the road to take on Jefferson University in Philadelphia, Pa. on Saturday, December 16th.
Score: Saint Anselm 98, Franklin Pierce 77
Records: Saint Anselm 4-4 (2-3 NE10); Franklin Pierce 2-6 (1-5 NE10)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Stoutenburgh Gymnasium)
Date: Tuesday, December 5, 2023
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Led by a combined 39 points from Arbuckle and Morissette in just the first half, Saint Anselm capped off a high-scoring opening 20 minutes of play with a season high 50 points.
- Arbuckle paced the Hawks offense in the early going with eight points in the first 3:30 of action, pouring in a pair of three-point baskets. The Ravens kept it close during that stretch with Ugo Nwachukwu dropping in seven points of his own. Just over five minutes in, Jarnel Snow-Guzman connected on a shot from long distance to even the score at 14 apiece.
- Junior Zac Taylor (Victoria, Australia), in his first start of the season, and Arbuckle each knocked down triples on back-to-back offensive possessions for the Hawks, but the score was still tied up, 21-21, with 11 minutes left in the first half after a made jumper from Snow-Guzman.
- With 8:23 to play in the first, Morissette knocked down his first three-point field goal of the contest to give his team a five point lead. The sophomore was not done there and quickly caught fire from deep, knocking down five more long range shots before halftime. At the break, Morissette had 20 points on six out of ten made threes, while Arbuckle had 19 points on three out of five made threes to go along seven rebounds.
- In his first appearance of the season, sophomore Elias Rodl (Berlin, Germany) joined in on the three-point barrage with one of his own as the Hawks finished the half shooting a blistering 11-20 (55%) from deep and held a 50-37 lead.
- The second half was more of the same for Saint Anselm. After junior Sean McCarthy (Cork, Ireland) opened the scoring on the first possession with a made layup, Morissette continued to stroke it from deep and splashed home three more three-point attempts within the first five minutes as the Hawks jumped ahead, 64-42.
- With under seven minutes to play, Morissette tied Sean Ryan's all-time program record with his 10th made three-pointer of the game, increasing his total to 35 points on the night. On the very next Hawks possession, the Exeter native connected on his 11th made shot from long distance, giving him 38 points for the game.
- Morissette ended his night with 3:27 remaining after drilling a three-pointer while being fouled. The sophomore made the free throw before checking out with a career-high in both points (42) and three pointers made (12).
- With 30 seconds remaining, senior Josh Menard (Higganum, Conn.) knocked down his first three-pointer of the season, giving the Hawks 19 made threes for the game, the second most in program history. Saint Anselm ran away with it in the second half, leading by as many as 27 points before finishing with the 98-77 win, their second straight victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Anselm shot an efficient 56.6% (30-53) from the field including 61.3% (19-31) from beyond-the-arc. Franklin Pierce shot 47.1% (32-68) from the field and knocked down five of their 18 attempts (27.8%) from three-point range.
- The Hawks got to the free throw line 25 times, knocking down 19 of their attempts for 76% on the evening, compared to 61.5% on eight makes out of 13 attempts for the Ravens.
- Saint Anselm out-rebounded Franklin Pierce 37-27, but the different in the game was the scoring discrepancy from three-point range with the Hawks drilling 14 more threes than the Ravens.
- Morissette led the team with his career-high 42 points (14-20 FG, 12-15 3PT-FG, 2-3 FT). Arbuckle poured in 27 points (7-11 FG, 3-5 3PT-FG, 10-13 FT) to go along with a career-high 12 rebounds and five assists.
- Taylor notched his second double-digit scoring game of the season with 10 points to go along with four assists, three rebounds, and three steals. McCarthy grabbed nine boards, while senior Matt Becker (Fairfield, Conn.) dished out eight assists in the win.
- Sean Trumper led Franklin Pierce with 20 points in the loss.
- This marked the 64th all-time meeting between these programs with Saint Anselm improving to 44-20 in the all-time series against Franklin Pierce.
STAY CONNECTED:
