SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Junior
Zac Taylor (Victoria, Australia) set a new career-high with 24 points and grabbed six rebounds to help the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team pick up a Northeast-10 Conference road win over American International College on Saturday. Sophomore
Josh Morissette (Exeter, N.H.) dropped a game-high 29 points in the win, his fifth straight outing with over 22 points. The Hawks have won their fourth straight and are back above .500 on the season for the first time since November 15, 2023.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm is on the road for the final game of the regular season against Pace University in Pleasantville, N.Y. on Tuesday, February 27th.
Score: Saint Anselm 85, American International 68
Records: Saint Anselm 14-13 (12-9 NE10), American International 9-18 (7-14 NE10)
Location: Springfield, Mass. (Henry A. Butova Gymnasium)
Date: Saturday, February 24, 2024
Attendance: 418
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- American International started out the game hot on offense. After a made bucket on the opening possession by Jalen Jordan, Justice Ellison ripped off 12 straight points for the Yellow Jackets including a four-point play.
- Morissette provided the offensive answer by scoring Saint Anselm's first seven points, including a three that made it 10-7 in favor of American International. Taylor tied up the score at 10-10 after finishing off an and-one at the free throw line.
- Ellison then connected on a pair of midrange jumpers before Buka Peikrishvili drilled a three-pointer to make it 17-10, Yellow Jackets.
- Taylor got back to work on the offensive end once again for the Hawks. The junior forward hit a midrange jumper and cashed in from behind the arc on consecutive offensive possessions, but two threes for American International including one from Ellison allowed them to maintain a six-point advantage.
- Jumpers from Taylor and fifth-year Tyler Arbuckle (Bristol, Conn.) made it a two-point game, and five quick points by junior Keith Robinson (Phillip Island, Australia) gave Saint Anselm its first lead of the game with 7:05 left in the first half.
- After a three-pointer from American International's Jacob Barnett, Morissette knocked down his second triple of the afternoon to keep Saint Anselm ahead by three points.
- To close the half, Arbuckle went four-for-four at the free throw line and Morissette added five more points as the Hawks held a 40-33 lead at the break.
- Back-to-back threes by Arbuckle allowed Saint Anselm to extend its lead to 11 points, 46-35, at the beginning of the second half. Taylor also started to cook for the Hawks, as the Australian splashed in a three before making a layup while being fouled. His free throw gave the Hawks a 12-point lead.
- The Yellow Jackets cut the deficit down to 10, but Arbuckle started to show out on both ends with an elbow jumper followed by a steal and a layup in transition to pump the lead up to 14 points and force an American International timeout with 13:59 to play.
- The tandem of Arbuckle and Taylor then passed the baton off to Morissette on the offensive end, as the sophomore began to takeover midway through the half. The Exeter native rattled off nine of 13 points for Saint Anselm in a five minute span, which included a pair of three-point field goals and helped the Hawks stay in front by 14.
- The visitors kept their double digit lead by going seven-for-eight at the free throw line in the final four minutes. Morissette knocked down one final three in the last minute of the game and the Hawks soared to a 17-point road victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Anselm shot an efficient 27 of 59 (45.8%) on the afternoon, while American International went 25 of 60 (41.7%) from the floor. Both teams shot well from long distance, with the Hawks making 10 out of 25 from three-point range (40.0%) and the Yellow Jackets making eight out of 18 (44.4%).
- The Hawks also had success getting to the free throw line and took full advantage by making 21 out of their 24 free throw attempts (87.5). The Yellow Jackets went 10 of 13 at the stripe (76.9%).
- Saint Anselm held a huge advantage on the glass and out-rebounded American International, 41-29. Paint points were even with the Yellow Jackets holding a slight 28-26 edge. The American International bench provided 15 points compared to just seven for the Saint Anselm reserves.
- It was a low turnover game with the Hawks committing nine and the Yellow Jackets committing eight. Saint Anselm recorded three steals and three blocks, while the Yellow Jackets registered seven thefts and one block.
- Morissette led the Hawks with a game-high 29 points (10-19 FG, 6-11 3PT, 3-4 FT), his fifth straight game with more than 20 points. Taylor set a career-high with 24 points (8-14, 2-5 3PT, 6-6 FT) and grabbed six rebounds. Arbuckle added 18 points (6-12 FG, 2-6 3PT, 4-5 FT) and senior Matt Becker (Fairfield, Conn.) scored seven and brought down a game-high 11 rebounds in the win.
- Ellison also scored 29 points in the game for the Yellow Jackets.
- This marked the 128th all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm improves to 82-46 overall against American International.
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