MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Saint Anselm College men's basketball team suffered a narrow 66-62 defeat to nationally ranked #11 Pace on Saturday afternoon. Senior
Jadon Archer (Enfield, Conn.) posted his second straight double-double with 10 points and a career-high 14 rebounds for the Hawks, whose comeback attempt fell just short against the Northeast-10's second-place Setters.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm is back on the road on Tuesday, January 14th to face Southern New Hampshire at 7:30 p.m. in NE10 action.
Score: Saint Anselm 62, Pace 66
Records: Saint Anselm (8-7, 4-4 NE10), Pace (15-1, 7-1 NE10)
Location: Manchester, N.H. (Stoutenburgh Gymnasium)
Date: Saturday, January 11th, 2025
Attendance: 236
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Pace scored an early basket on their opening possession, but after that, both teams were ice cold to start the game. The score remained 2-0 in favor of the Setters until almost four minutes in. The two sides combined to shoot 1-13 and committed five turnovers to open the game.
- The Setters eventually got out to a 10-0 start with Tray Alexander finishing a pair of layups for the visitors.
- Archer scored the first point of the afternoon for Saint Anselm nearly seven minutes into the game. A little more than a minute later, sophomore Jordan Horne (Newport News, Va.) made the first field goal of the day for the Hawks at the 11:59 mark of the half.
- Those points helped get the offense going for the Hawks, who rattled off an 11-2 run to cut the deficit down to just a point. Freshman Will Davies (Saco, Maine) knocked down a three, while senior Sean McCarthy (Cork, Ireland) converted consecutive layups to make it a 12-11 game.
- After a made layup by Pace, junior Josh Morissette (Exeter, N.H.) leveled the score at 14-14 with a three pointer from the top of the key. The two teams went on to trade baskets over the next few possessions with Archer making two layups for Saint Anselm to keep the score tied at 18-18.
- Over the final six minutes of the first half, play remained even as both offenses began to settle in. The Setters continued to score down low, but the Hawks provided an answer each time. McCarthy, senior Zac Taylor (Victoria, Australia), and freshman Erik Oliver-Bush (Trenton, N.J.) each made layups with Morissette picking up a pair of assists.
- Saint Anselm held Pace scoreless for the final three minutes of the half. That allowed them to take their first lead of the game at 26-24 right before halftime as Oliver-Bush scored again on the inside.
- The Hawks increased their lead to six points, their largest of the game, coming out of the halftime break after McCarthy sunk a midrange jumper and junior Juju Ramirez (Lawrence, Kan.) made a pair at the free throw line.
- The Setters brought the deficit back down to two points after baskets on two straight possessions, but McCarthy provided the answer for the Hawks with a cutting slam dunk that sparked the home crowd and made it 32-28.
- Pace quickly tied the score after that with Alexander and Trey Boyd III each making field goals. They eventually regained the lead with 14:19 to go after Boyd converted on an and-one layup that made it 35-33.
- Both teams started to find success on the offensive end with a flurry of points coming midway through the second half. Darren Fergus buried a triple for the Setters to help extend their lead to five points, but four points by Ramirez helped the Hawks close that gap down to one point with 11 minutes remaining.
- Alexander started to get hot shortly after that for Pace. He knocked down three consecutive floaters around the painted area and then assisted a three by Boyd III that increased the Setters' lead to 52-43, their largest of the game, with 8:35 left.
- Saint Anselm did not go away easily and came out of a timeout with a great play drawn up for Morissette, who cashed in from long distance to trim the Pace lead back down to six points.
- Pace responded with a layup by Josh Hopson, but McCarthy countered with a bucket plus the foul at the other end. His made free throw made it 54-49 with 6:46 on the clock.
- With under five minutes remaining, Ramirez and Oliver-Bush each made layups for the Hawks that made it a three-point game. Hopson then made a pair of free throws for the Setters, but McCarthy answered with two free throws of his own at the other end to keep it a one-possession game.
- Saint Anselm then forced a turnover on the defensive end with Archer getting a crucial steal. After a missed shot by the Hawks, Archer hit the offensive glass and finished at the rim, which made it a one-point deficit with two minutes to play.
- Both teams came up with critical baskets in the final moments. Boyd III made a layup for Pace, but McCarthy answered with one of his own for Saint Anselm as the Setters held a 62-61 advantage with about 35 seconds left.
- The Hawks decided to foul with only a few seconds difference between the shot and game clocks. The Setters missed the front end of a one-on-one at the foul line, but the rebound deflected off the Hawks and went out of bounds. That allowed Pace to keep possession, and they were fouled again. This time, Alexander stepped up and made both free throws to increase his team's lead to three with 16 seconds to go.
- Pace then decided to foul so that Saint Anselm could not tie the game with a three. Archer went one-for-two at the line to put the Hawks down by two points. The Hawks fouled quickly, but Jabari Nurse knocked down both of his free throws to seal the four-point victory for the Setters.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Pace was a bit more efficient shooting the ball compared to Saint Anselm. The Setters made 27 of their 62 field goal attempts (43.5 percent), while the Hawks made 22 of their 56 field goal attempts (39.3 percent).
- Both teams struggled mightily from behind the arc. The Hawks made only three out of 20 three-point attempts (15.0 percent), while the Setters went just two for 16 from deep (12.5 percent).
- The two sides shot it well at the foul line with Saint Anselm going 15 for 20 (75.0 percent) and Pace going 10 for 12 (83.3 percent).
- The Setters maintained a slight advantage on the glass and out-rebounded the Hawks, 41-33. The visitors also out-rebounded their counterparts on the offensive boards, 12-9.
- Pace outscored Saint Anselm in the paint, 46-36, and led in second chance scoring, 15-5. The Hawks got out in transition and held a 16-6 edge in fastbreak points.
- Both teams saw eight different players record at least one basket. Five different Hawks players scored five or more points in the game, but the Setters held a slight 13-10 edge in bench scoring.
- The game featured seven ties and two lead changes. Saint Anselm led by two points at halftime, but Pace took the lead with 14:19 remaining and did not relinquish it.
- The Hawks recorded 16 points off of 14 Setters turnovers. The Setters totaled only eight points off of 13 Hawks giveaways.
- Defensively, Saint Anselm recorded two blocks and six steals, while Pace tallied three blocks and six steals.
- Assist numbers were low with Saint Anselm posting 11 assists on their 22 made field goals and Pace collecting only nine assists on their 27 made field goals.
- McCarthy led Saint Anselm with a game-high 21 points (8-15 FG, 5-6 FT) to go along with four rebounds.
- Archer was the only other Hawk to finish in double figures in the scoring column. He scored 10 points (4-7 FG, 2-4 FT) and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds for his second straight double-double while also dishing out five assists.
- The Setters were led by Alexander, who posted a team-high 20 points (9-17 FG, 2-2 FT) to go along with seven assists.
- This marked the 41st all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm falls to 27-14 overall against Pace in the series that began in 1997.
STAY CONNECTED:
