MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College men's basketball team suffered a non-conference defeat at the hands of Felician on Saturday by a final score of 75-73. Trailing by two points on the final possession, the Hawks were unable to send the game to overtime after missing the potential game-tying shot at the buzzer.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm is back home on Saturday, December 21st to host Bridgeport in non-conference action at 1:00 p.m. from Stoutenburgh Gymnasium.
Score: Saint Anselm 73, Felician 75
Records: Saint Anselm (6-4), Felician (5-4)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Stoutenburgh Gymnasium)
Date: Saturday, December 14th, 2024
Attendance: 112
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- The two teams traded baskets in the first five minutes of action. Sophomore Josh Morissette (Exeter, N.H.) and redshirt freshman Greg Cantwell (Glen Head, N.Y.) combined to score the first nine points of the game for Saint Anselm with both players knocking down one three pointer.
- At the other end, Tavian Pullock and Jhonny Tovar scored four points apiece to help Felician jump in front by the first media timeout, 12-9.
- The Golden Falcons then held the Hawks without a made field goal for a little more than four minutes and increased their lead to 14-10. Senior Zac Taylor (Victoria, Australia) helped end the scoring drought for Saint Anselm by knocking down a three to cut the deficit down to just one point.
- After that, Felician put together a 6-0 run to take a seven-point lead, 20-13. Jonathan Izemef threw down an alley-oop dunk in transition for the Golden Falcons during that sequence.
- Morissette got the offense back into rhythm for the Hawks with four quick points. Taylor followed that up with six points of his own after making layups on three straight possessions to trim the margin down to 29-25 with 6:52 left in the first half.
- A few minutes later, the Golden Falcons punched back with an 11-2 run to take a 13-point lead, their largest of the game. Jared White dropped five points for his team and knocked down a three pointer in that span, while Marcus Pierce added four points as well.
- Saint Anselm did not go quietly, however, and outscored Felician 8-2 over the final two minutes of the first half. Freshman Erik Oliver-Bush (Trenton, N.J.) was able to pick off a pass in the front court and threw down a thunderous slam to help the Hawks trail by seven at the halftime break, 42-35.
- Oliver-Bush also helped the home team start the second half strongly as he drove to the basket and finished an and-one layup to make it a two-point game with the score at 42-40.
- Pullock settled the visitors down by burying a triple at the other end, but a layup from junior Juju Ramirez (Lawrence, Kan.) and another three by Morissette kept the deficit at two points for the Hawks.
- That three pointer by Morissette sparked a 9-0 scoring run by Saint Anselm as they surged in front, 51-47. Senior Sean McCarthy (Cork, Ireland) gave the Hawks their first lead since the early stages of the game with a driving layup and Oliver-Bush added a midrange jumper with 15 minutes remaining.
- Tovar provided an immediate answer for Felician. He made a layup in the paint and, after a midrange jumper by Morissette, buried another three for the Golden Falcons. They were able to take the lead back on the next possession after a steal and score by Jabri Fitzpatrick.
- Felician then held Saint Anselm off the scoreboard for another three-minute segment. That allowed them to extend their lead to 58-53 after a pair of layups by Izemef.
- Senior Jadon Archer (Enfield, Conn.) injected some life back into the Hawks after that. He raced down the court for a pair of driving layups while Taylor finished again at the rim to give Saint Anselm a 59-58 advantage with 10 minutes to play.
- After the two teams exchanged free throws, Taylor came through once more for Saint Anselm with his second triple followed by another made layup, which extended his team's lead to 66-60.
- With under seven minutes to play, Felician clawed back into the game courtesy of a 9-2 scoring run. Fitzpatrick capped off the run by burying consecutive threes from the right wing to give the Golden Falcons a 69-68 lead.
- Felician eventually increased their lead to 73-69, but with under two minutes left, Morissette came up with a clutch three pointer for Saint Anselm to make it a one-point game. He also knocked down one out of two free throws on the next possession to tie it up at 73-73 with 1:05 to go.
- With seven seconds on the clock, Fitzpatrick got a deep two-point attempt from the top of the key to fall to give Felician a 75-73 lead. Saint Anselm called timeout, but the potential game-tying layup at the buzzer by McCarthy came up just short as the Golden Falcons held on for the win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Anselm had a below average afternoon shooting and made only 25 of their 70 field goal attempts (35.7 percent). Felician was a little more efficient with 31 made shots from the floor on 72 attempts (43.1 percent).
- The Hawks struggled from long range and knocked down just six of their 22 three point attempts (27.3 percent). The Golden Falcons also struggled from behind the arc and connected on only five of their 21 attempts from long distance (23.8 percent).
- At the free throw line, Saint Anselm went 17 for 24 (70.8 percent), while Felician went 8 for 10 (80.0 percent).
- The battle on the boards was relatively even with the Golden Falcons holding a slight 48-42 edge. Both teams hauled in 10 offensive rebounds in the game.
- Felician held a narrow 40-34 advantage in paint points, while Saint Anselm led 16-7 in fastbreak points. Second chance points were even with the visitors earning a slight 13-11 lead in that department.
- Bench scoring went the way of the Hawks as they outscored their opposition, 26-13, in that category.
- The Golden Falcons scored 12 points off of 10 Hawks turnovers. The Hawks scored eight points off of 13 Golden Falcons turnovers.
- The game featured seven ties and 11 lead changes, many of which came late in the second half.
- Defensively, the Hawks recorded five blocks and five steals, while the Golden Falcons tallied 10 blocks and seven steals.
- As a team, Saint Anselm had 11 assists on their 25 made field goals. Felician had 15 assists on their 31 made field goals.
- Morissette led the Hawks in scoring with a game-high 21 points (6-19 FG, 3-11 3PT, 6-8 FT). Taylor had a productive game off the bench for Saint Anselm and matched his season-high with 18 points (7-10 FG, 2-5 3PT, 2-2 FT).
- Fitzpatrick led the Golden Falcons with 18 points (7-18 FG, 2-5 3PT, 2-2 FT) and eight rebounds. Izemef had a monster game for Felician as well with 17 points (8-14 FG, 1-2 FT), 17 rebounds, and seven blocks.
- This marked the fourth all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm falls to 2-2 overall against Felician in the series that began in 2002. It was the first matchup between the Hawks and the Golden Falcons since the 2013-14 season.
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