MANCHESTER, N.H. - Despite leading at halftime, the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team fell to the Northeast-10 Conference's first place team, Saint Michael's College, by a final score of 73-69 on Saturday.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm remains at home to host Bentley University on Tuesday, January 30th for a 7:30 p.m. matchup with the visiting Falcons from Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
Score: Saint Anselm 69, Saint Michael's 73
Records: Saint Anselm 8-11 (6-7 NE10); Saint Michael's 15-4 (11-2 NE10)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Stoutenburgh Gymnasium)
Date: Saturday, January 27, 2024
Attendance: 237
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Saint Anselm started the game on fire, scoring seven points in the opening two minutes of action. Fifth-year Tyler Arbuckle (Bristol, Conn.) knocked down a three and got to the rim for another two points to get the Hawks out to an early 7-5 lead.
- Layups on back-to-back possessions just over five minutes in by Arbuckle and junior Sean McCarthy (Cork, Ireland) helped extend the home team's lead to four points at 15-11.
- Senior Matt Becker (Fairfield, Conn.) also got in on the scoring for Saint Anselm with a pair of made triples, but Saint Michael's eventually tied the score at 21 apiece halfway through the first half.
- Providing an offensive boost off the bench for the Hawks later in the half was Josh Menard (Higganum, Conn.). The senior guard connected on his first two attempts of the day, both of which were at the midrange level. The teams would trade buckets for the next few minutes, but a fastbreak layup by McCarthy with a minute remaining in the half allowed Saint Anselm to take a 31-29 lead at the break.
- Sophomore Josh Morissette (Exeter, N.H.) ignited a 5-0 run to open the second half with two straight field goals including a triple to push the Hawks' lead up to seven points. The threes continued to fall for Saint Anselm with Becker and Arbuckle each drilling a shot from long distance, giving the Hawks their largest lead of the game at 44-34 which forced a Purple Knight timeout with 15:36 to go.
- Out of the timeout, Saint Michael's quickly responded with a 9-0 scoring run led by seven points from Romar Reid to cut the deficit to just one point. After a made jumper from Arbuckle, Reid gave the Purple Knights their first lead of the game on a layup at the rim with 12:35 to play in the game.
- His teammate, Darrel Yepdo, took over on offense after that with nine straight points of his own as the visitors pulled ahead by five points. Made field goals by Becker, Arbuckle, Morissette, and Menard helped keep it a one-possession game with under 10 minutes left, but Yepdo knocked down another triple to keep Saint Michael's ahead by four points.
- The Purple Knights obtained their largest lead of the game following a three-pointer by CJ Crews to make the score 69-60 with just under five minutes to play. Morissette answered right back with a three of his own to cut the deficit to six points for the Hawks. After Arbuckle made a pair at the line, Morissette connected on a floater inside the paint with 1:09 on the clock and Saint Anselm trailed, 69-67.
- On the very next possession, Reid provided the dagger for Saint Michael's, drilling a shot from beyond the arc to make it a five-point game with 38 seconds left that helped the Purple Knights secure the road win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Anselm shot just 26 of 64 (40.6%) from the floor while Saint Michael's went 29 of 67 (43.3%). Both teams struggled from long range with the Hawks making eight out of 28 (28.6%) and the Purple Knights going six of 25 (24.0%) from distance.
- The Hawks had a solid day at the free throw line converting on nine of their 10 (90.0%) free throws while the Purple Knights went nine of 14 (64.3%) from the stripe.
- Saint Michael's committed just five turnovers throughout the game compared to 11 committed by Saint Anselm. The visitors also led, 40-26, in paint points.
- The Hawks out-rebounded the Purple Knights, 41-36. Both teams' benches contributed six points.
- Four Hawks registered double-digits in the scoring category including Arbuckle (19 points), Becker (16 points), Morissette (14 points), and McCarthy (12 points). Becker also grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds, dished out four assists, and blocked three shots in the loss.
- Reid (35 points) and Yepdo (22 points) combined for 57 of 73 Saint Michael's points on 22-40 shooting.
- This marked the 129th all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm falls to 73-56 overall against Saint Michael's.
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