MANCHESTER, N.H. – The trio of fifth-year
Tyler Arbuckle (Bristol, Conn.), junior
Sean McCarthy (Cork, Ireland), and sophomore
Josh Morissette was firing on all cylinders on Friday night, combining for 73 points to carry the seventh-seeded Saint Anselm College men's basketball team to an 83-69 Northeast-10 Championship First Round win over the tenth-seeded University of New Haven. With a jumper at the 9:24 mark of the opening half, Arbuckle became a top 10 all-time scorer for the Hawks by increasing his career point total to 1,756.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm advances to the NE10 Championship Quarterfinal round and will travel to No. 2 seed Adelphi University in Garden City, N.Y. on Sunday, March 3rd. New Haven's season comes to a close with a final record of 10-19.
Score: Saint Anselm 83, New Haven 69
Records: Saint Anselm 15-14 (13-10 NE10), New Haven 10-19 (7-16 NE10)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Stoutenburgh Gymnasium)
Date: Friday, March 1, 2024
Attendance: 283
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- In his first postseason game with Saint Anselm, Morissette got his shot going early and often. The sophomore poured in the first eight points for the Hawks and buried two threes in the opening two minutes of the game to give his team an early 8-2 lead.
- The lethal scoring pair of Jah'likai King and Davontrey Thomas settled New Haven down right away as each canned a triple to tie the score.
- After that, McCarthy got inside for consecutive field goals around the basket and a close-range jumper from Arbuckle put the Hawks back in front, 14-10.
- A couple of possessions later, Morissette was fouled in the act of shooting a three. The Exeter native knocked down all three free throws, but after that, both offenses stalled out as no points were scored over the next three minutes of action.
- Thomas ended the drought for the Chargers by nailing his second three of the game, and another three from Sean Braithwaite helped New Haven cut the Saint Anselm lead to just a point midway through the first half.
- Thomas stayed hot with another three-pointer followed by a midrange jumper, but Arbuckle and Morissette provided the answer on offense for the Hawks with back-to-back threes to keep their side ahead by six, 29-23.
- Including those triples, Saint Anselm went on a 21-3 run to close the first half. McCarthy got two more layups to fall and ending the half with a buzzer-beating three from the top of the key was Morissette, his fourth of the game. The Hawks led by 20 points, 44-24, at the break.
- Arbuckle opened the the second half by cashing in from long range to make it a 23-point game, Saint Anselm's largest lead of the night.
- New Haven continued to look Thomas' direction on the offensive end, which led to success. The Chargers went on a 15-4 scoring run over a five minute span to shorten the margin to just a dozen points. Thomas scored eight for the Chargers during that stretch.
- Junior Zac Taylor (Victoria, Australia) provided a much-needed response for the Hawks at the other end. The forward grabbed an offensive rebound and powered his way to the basket for two while being fouled. Taylor converted the three-point play at the line and Saint Anselm pulled back ahead by 15 points with 13:11 remaining.
- New Haven stayed persistent and continued to find ways to stay in the game. The Chargers sparked a 6-0 run to pull to within nine points. With 10:40 to play, King made a step-back three to make it a 58-52 game, but five quick points by McCarthy including an and-one put Saint Anselm back ahead by double digits.
- With under eight minutes to go, Arbuckle scored on three straight possessions for the Hawks. The fifth-year then drilled a dagger three with five minutes to go to increase Saint Anselm's lead to 15 points with the score at 76-61.
- Thomas scored the final eight points for New Haven, but the Chargers would not get closer than 12 points for the rest of the game as Saint Anselm earned a 14-point victory.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Both teams shot the ball well with Saint Anselm going 30 of 65 (46.2%) and New Haven going 27 of 62 (43.5%) from the floor. The Hawks were stroking it from deep, knocking down eight of ther 16 three-point attempts (50.0%) compared to nine of 24 (37.5%) by the Chargers.
- Saint Anselm made the most of their chances at the foul line by going 15 of 21 (71.4%), while New Haven struggled by only making six of 13 (46.2%).
- The Hawks held a huge edge on the glass and out-rebounded the Chargers, 45-31, and grabbed 14 offensive boards. Saint Anselm outscored New Haven in the paint as well, 38-30.
- Another factor in the victory for the Hawks came by way of second chance points. The home team had 17 second chance points compared to just eight by the visitors. Saint Anselm also outscored New Haven in transition, 13-9. Both benches contributed next to nothing offensively, as the Hawks reserves scored just two while the Chargers bench was held scoreless.
- Both sides took fairly good care of the ball and only committed eight turnovers apiece. New Haven had five steals and three blocks compared to six steals and four blocks by Saint Anselm.
- Arbuckle (27 points), Morissette (25 points), and McCarthy (21 points) combined for 73 of Saint Anselm's 83 points. It is just the second time all season that three different players have scored 20 or more points for Saint Anselm, with the only other occasion coming in a double overtime loss to Daemen University on December 31st, 2023.
- Arbuckle grabbed eight rebounds and had two rejections, while McCarthy had a game-high 15 rebounds and secured his eighth double-double of the season. Morissette had four threes and two blocks, while Taylor finished with eight points and five boards for the Hawks.
- Thomas ended with a game-high 32 points for New Haven in the loss. King added 15 for the Chargers.
- This marked the 35th all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm is now 25-11 overall against New Haven and has won the last five meetings.
STAY CONNECTED:
