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NCAA regional championship trophy, Stoutenburgh Gymnasium

PREVIEW: No. 16/24 men's basketball opens NCAA postseason play at home

3/9/2023 8:05:00 PM

MANCHESTER, N.H. – The nationally-ranked Saint Anselm College men's basketball team will take on Caldwell University in the Quarterfinals round of the 2023 NCAA Division II East Region Championship. The game will tip at 5 p.m. on Saturday, Mar. 11 on the Saint Anselm campus.

No. 8-seed CALDWELL UNIVERSITY COUGARS (21-9)
Roster | Schedule and Results | 2022-23 Statistics | News

No. 1-seed SAINT ANSELM COLLEGE HAWKS (22-7)
Roster | Schedule and Results | 2022-23 Statistics | News | Game Notes

Earning the No. 1 seed in the East Region Championship, Saint Anselm (22-7) has earned the right to host the eight-team tournament starting on Saturday, Mar. 11. The Hawks are ranked No. 24 in NCAA Division II (NABC) and as high as 16th nationally in the D2SIDA national media poll.

The Hawks are taking on eighth-seeded Caldwell (21-9) in the First Round of tournament play. Saint Anselm has faced the Cougars just twice in program history with both regular-season showdowns coming more than a decade ago.

Other East Region matchups for Saturday include Bentley (21-6), the second-seeded team, taking on Dominican (N.Y.) (21-8), the seventh-seed. New Haven (20-10), the fourth-seeded program, will face Pace (20-10), the five seed, and Southern New Hampshire (20-8) and Saint Thomas Aquinas (26-4) will play as the third and sixth seeds, respectively.

The eight regional champions will advance to the quarterfinals in conjunction with the 2023 NCAA Division II Men's Elite Eight. The quarterfinal, semifinal and championship games will be conducted at the Ford Center in Evansville, Ind. starting on Tuesday, Mar. 21.

Single-game tickets are available for purchase at the door 60 minutes before the scheduled opening tip. Adults will be admitted to the venue for $10 while youths aged 5-17, students with valid institutional identification, and senior citizens can gain entry for $5. Tickets are only valid for the session that is purchased and Saturday's schedule is broken up into two sessions with the venue set to be cleared in between games two and three.

All-session tickets are available for $25 each and will only be sold in advance via an online form. The all-session tickets can be picked up on the day of the game and will admit fans to one of the two quarterfinal sessions on Saturday, both semifinal games on Sunday and the regional final on Tuesday.

Saturday's quarterfinal games will be conducted in two sessions which require separate admission to each session. A ticket purchased for the Saint Anselm/Caldwell game will be valid for Saturday's final game between Pace and New Haven.

For more information about the East Region Championship, check out the official tournament website.

SCOUTING SAINT ANSELM
  • Guided by 700-game winner Keith Dickson, Saint Anselm extended its league record for postseason championships on Saturday, downing New Haven by a 65-54 score in the Northeast-10 Conference title bout.
  • The winningest Head Coach in the history of the NE10 in terms of victories, Dickson is one of just five active NCAA head coaches (any division) with 700 victories while only coaching at one institution (Jim Boeheim, Syracuse; Steve Ridder, Embry-Riddle; Tom Klusman, Rollins; Brian Baptiste, UMass Dartmouth).
  • With the result against the Chargers, Saint Anselm won its 10th NE10 title and via the conference's automatic bid, the Hawks have qualified for the NCAA tournament for the 22nd time under Dickson.
  • Riding a streak of eight consecutive postseason berths prior to the pandemic, Saint Anselm has participated in each of the last two NCAA tournaments. The Hawks did not compete in any games during the 2020-21 academic year, snapping the postseason appearances streak.
  • Saint Anselm most recently won a regional championship in 2019 under Dickson and made it all the way to the Final Four that season. The Hawks won their first regional title in 2000 en route to the Elite Eight and have qualified for the national postseason 22 times under Dickson's watch.
  • Saint Anselm ranks sixth in NCAA Division II in three-point field goal percentage (40.1%) while leading the NE10. The Hawks are one of just seven programs in NCAA Division II shooting above 40% from beyond the arc.
  • Among NE10 programs, the Hawks have poured home 9.7 triples per game to rank 27th nationally. Saint Anselm also tops the NE10 in free throw attempts made per game (17.3) but is second to last in proficiency (66.8%).
  • The Hawks have posted 280 three-point baskets this season, ranking seventh in single-season history. Saint Anselm needs just 22 more this season to eclipse the program record of 301 set in 2001-02.
  • The Hawks commit just 13.1 fouls per game, ranking seventh in the country and third in the NE10. New Haven (10.7) and Bentley (12.3) rank one-two in the nation - both programs are competing in the East Region bracket.
  • Saint Anselm (1.29) trails only Bentley (1.38) in the East Region in assist-to-turnover ratio. The Hawks feature two student-athletes that rank in the top-11 in that metric.
  • The Hawks have 86 blocks as a team, tied for fifth in single-season history. The all-time record by a Saint Anselm program was 103 rejections in the 2006-07 campaign.
  • Measured by overall winning percentage of past and future competition, Saint Anselm leads the NE10 and is ranked 15th in strength of schedule (445-330, 57.4%).
  • Tyler Arbuckle and Miles Tention earned First Team All-Conference honors from the NE10 to end the month of February. The duo becomes the first from Saint Anselm to earn First Team distinction in the same season since 2005-06 when Matt Cahill '06 and Jim Moore '06 were so honored.
  • Arbuckle is averaging a career-high 17.9 points per game while also establishing single-season highs in rebounds per game (4.3), three-point field goal percentage (59-for-136, 43.4%), overall field goal percentage (186-for-380, 48.9%), and minutes played per game (37.3).
  • Arbuckle, the Most Outstanding Player in the most recent NE10 postseason tournament, ranks ninth in NCAA Division II in minutes played per game (37.3).
  • Among NE10 student-athletes, Arbuckle ranks second in overall point scoring (518), second in points per game (17.9), third in field goal attempts (380), free throw attempts (132) and seventh in field goal percentage (48.9%).
  • Tention, in his fourth full season on the Hilltop, is also enjoying career-high marks in points per game (15.5), three-point field goal percentage (74-for-157, 47.1%) and minutes played per game (38.1).
  • Rarely leaving the court for Saint Anselm, Tention's 38.1 minutes played per game is third in all of NCAA Division II. Leading the NE10 in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.07), Tention also ranks third in the conference with 4.2 assists per game.
  • Tention's 47.1% three-point field goal percentage is third in NCAA Division II while leading all NE10 student-athletes. He was named to the All-Tournament Team following the league's postseason.
  • Tention ranks 20th in team history with 1,376 career points in 115 career games for the Hawks. His 254 three-point baskets stand as the eighth-most by a Saint Anselm student-athlete and his 43.2% from beyond the arc (254-for-588) is fifth in team annals.
  • Tention has handed out 373 career assists and is one of just 14 student-athletes in team history to reach at least that many in a career.
  • Matt Becker was named to the NE10 All-Tournament Team after scoring a career-high 32 against Bentley in the NE10 Semifinals on Mar. 1, helping the Hawks make it back to the league's championship game. He has played in exactly 40 minutes across the past four games.
  • Becker's 1.74 assist-to-turnover ratio is fifth in the NE10 and his 3.5 assists is the seventh-most by an NE10 student-athlete. Defensively, his 7.6 rebounds rank fifth in the conference and his 220 overall rebounds is fourth in the league.
  • Averaging 5.8 career rebounds across a 45-game career on the Hilltop, Becker is tied with Chris Braley '17 for the program record among student-athletes with a minimum of 40 games played.
  • Following the NE10 Championship game, Becker was feted with the league's prestigious Elite 24 award, issued to the student-athlete at the championship site with the highest grade-point average. He becomes only the second student-athlete in Saint Anselm history to collect such distinction (Jackie Gaumer '21, field hockey, 2019).
  • Owen McGlashan has been a solid rebounder for Saint Anselm, collecting 7.1 rebounds per game to rank eighth in the NE10. The transfer from NCAA Division I Denver has also produced 2.03 offensive rebounds per game, ranking eighth in the conference.
  • Zac Taylor has made 26 appearances for Saint Anselm in his debut season, averaging 10.2 points per game while shooting nearly 47% from the floor. He is one of just five student-athletes on the team with over 700 minutes played.
  • Keith Robinson, Jadon Archer and Matt Relihan have all come off the bench for Saint Anselm this season, each playing at least 21 games for the Hawks. Robinson and Archer have made their Hawks debuts this season with Relihan seeing action in 76 career games to date.
SCOUTING CALDWELL
  • Caldwell enters this Saturday's tilt with the Hawks as the No. 8 seed in the East Region. The Cougars are making their third NCAA postseason appearance in team history.
  • The Cougars rank second in NCAA Division II in blocks per game (6.1), third in field goal percentage defense (39.2%), fifth in free throws made per game (17.2) and ninth in defensive rebounds per game (29.07).
  • Caldwell claimed the CACC postseason championship on Sunday, securing the league's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament after defeating the top-seeded Rams from Jefferson University, 72-69.
  • The Cougars roster features the CACC's Rookie of the Year, freshman Darnell Evans, who also earned First Team All-Conference honors after posting 19 points per game alongside 5.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists per tilt.
  • Third Team All-CACC pick Mark Heber, a sophomore, is contributing with 14.6 rebounds per game and the nation's fifth-best free throw percentage (91.8%).
  • Sophomore Derrick Bueno earned the CACC tournament's Most Valuable Player award, averaging 10.5 points and 5.3 rebounds this season. He is contributing with 1.89 offensive rebounds per game, the 13th-best figure in the CACC.
  • The conference's Defensive Player of the Year, Jarnel Rancy, has a well-rounded stat line of 6.1 points, 5.9 rebounds and 4.3 blocks per contest. He leads NCAA Division II in blocks (128) and blocks per game (4.3).
  • The Cougars are coached by Dean Johnson, who also serves as the Head Softball Coach for Caldwell. Johnson coached the Cougars to a stunning victory over Saint Anselm in the NCAA postseason in 2022 - trailing by a 7-2 margin in the bottom of the seventh, Caldwell scored six runs to walk-off with the victory.
ALL-TIME vs. CALDWELL
  • Saint Anselm enjoys a 2-0 record in the all-time series with the Cougars that dates back to Dec. 20, 2004. The Hawks played once again exactly two years later on Dec. 20, 2006.
  • In the first meeting, the Hawks used a 16-6 run at the start of the second half to build an 18-point edge, 48-30. Saint Anselm, nationally-ranked at the time, led by as many as 25 in the 69-47 win.
  • Dickson picked up career victory 399 against Caldwell during the 2006 tilt as the Hawks scored 24 consecutive points to begin the second half on the way to a 70-56 win at home. 
ALL-TIME, NCAA POSTSEASON
  • Saint Anselm owns an 18-27 (.400) record all-time in NCAA postseason play. In total, the Hawks have won two regional titles (1999-00, 2018-19) and picked up their first Elite Eight victory in 2019 against No. 4/5 Nova Southeastern.
  • The Hawks played their first NCAA postseason game against Le Moyne in 1960, defeating the Dolphins in Winooski, Vt. by an 88-75 margin. Saint Anselm fell to the hosts from Saint Michael's in the regional championship, 99-95.
  • Last season, the third-seeded Hawks fell to sixth-seeded New Haven in the opening round of the NCAA postseason by a 78-70 margin. The Chargers led by three at the break as the Hawks committed 12 of the game's 19 miscues, leading to a 16-4 advantage for New Haven in points off turnovers.
  • Saint Anselm hosted a regional championship for the first time in Stoutenburgh Gymnasium in 2019. Historically, the Hawks were not able to host an on-campus regional due to prior NCAA legislation that established a minimum attendance capacity.
  • The Hawks have met Jefferson a program-record four times in the NCAA postseason and Southern New Hampshire, Saint Rose, American International, Saint Thomas Aquinas, Bridgeport and New Haven three times each.
  • Saint Anselm has two victories against Saint Thomas Aquinas, New Haven and Le Moyne in NCAA postseason play - the Hawks have not defeated a single opponent three or more times in the national tournament.
TEAM HISTORY
  • One of the most successful programs at Saint Anselm since its varsity-level inception in 1934-35, the Hawks have won over 1,240 games and own a 59.5% winning percentage (1,246-846).
  • Al Grenert joined the Hawks as head coach in 1949 and piloted the squad for 22 years. 23 of his student-athletes have been inducted alongside Grenert in the Athletics Hall of Fame and Saint Anselm registered a 304-171 (.640) overall record in his time at the helm.
  • Dickson was hired as the 11th coach in team history prior to the 1986-87 season, taking over for Bob Brown who would later coach at NCAA Division I Boston University. 
  • Brown (and Dickson, his assistant coach) led the Hawks to a 21-9 record in 1986-87 which was their first 20-plus win campaign since the 1950-51 season. The very next season, Dickson took the reins and won a program-record 25 games in his first year.
  • One of the top teams was the 1995-96 men's basketball team, racking up a dominant 28-3 record and a perfect 16-0 mark against NE10 opponents which, to date, has not happened again.
  • Five student-athletes have earned NABC All-America honors for Saint Anselm in program history. The only student-athlete in team history to win NABC All-America honors twice, Tim Guers '19 also was a two-time Northeast-10 Conference Player of the Year award recipient.
  • As a senior, Guers averaged 21.9 points, 7.5 rebounds and 5.5 assists across 31 games in 2018-19 and departed as the program's all-time leader in point scoring (2,327), field goals made (799), defensive rebounds (657) and minutes played (4,388).
  • The Hawks trail only Bentley (40) for NE10 postseason appearances with 39 in the team's 40 seasons of competition in the conference. Saint Anselm is the far-and-away leader in NE10 postseason winning percentage (59-31, .656) and has won a league-leading 10 titles.
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