WALTHAM, Mass. – A three-point field goal with 4.7 seconds left by freshman
Will Davies (Saco, Maine) allowed the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team to escape with a 75-73 Northeast-10 Conference road win over Bentley on Saturday. With the win, the Hawks improve to 6-4 in conference play and are tied for fourth place in the league standings.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm is back home on Wednesday, January 22nd to host in-state rival Franklin Pierce in NE10 action at 7:30 p.m. from Stoutenbugh Gymnasium.
Score: Saint Anselm 75, Bentley 73
Records: Saint Anselm (10-7, 6-4 NE10), Bentley (9-7, 6-4 NE10)
Location: Waltham, Mass. (Charles A. Dana Center)
Date: Saturday, January 18th, 2025
Attendance: 180
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Both teams got their offenses going early in the game. Juniors Josh Morissette (Exeter, N.H.) and Juju Ramirez (Lawrence, Kan.) converted in the paint for Saint Anselm, but Bentley responded with a pair of layups and took a 7-4 lead on a three-pointer by Joe Carroll.
- The Falcons held the Hawks without a field goal for the next four minutes. That allowed them to extend their lead to 10-4 after Ivan Misic knocked down a triple.
- Saint Anselm was able to quickly retake the lead a few minutes later. Their defense held Bentley without a point for nearly four minutes and threes by Davies and freshman Erik Oliver-Bush (Trenton, N.J.) gave the visitors a 12-10 advantage.
- Aaron Latham answered right back with another Falcons triple, but a midrange jumper by Oliver-Bush and a driving layup by senior Sean McCarthy (Cork, Ireland) put the Hawks back in front, 16-13, midway through the opening half.
- Those two baskets were the beginning of a 13-0 run for Saint Anselm, who took their largest lead of the game at 25-13 with nine minutes left in the first half. McCarthy was able to score four more points in the paint and Oliver-Bush knocked down another midrange jumper during that run for the Hawks, whose defense held the Falcons to just one made field goal over the previous seven-plus minutes.
- Misic helped Bentley end their scoring drought with another three. The Falcons used that shot to spark a 14-2 run of their own over the next few minutes and in the blink of an eye, the score was all tied up at 27-27. Latham hit another triple, while Chase Clarke and Cooper Farrall scored four points apiece during that sequence for the home team.
- With under five minutes left in the first half, Saint Anselm got their offense back in rhythm with McCarthy, Morissette, and senior Jadon Archer (Endfield, Conn.) each getting to the basket and finishing layups to help put the Hawks ahead, 33-29.
- Over the next few possessions, Bentley countered with a 7-0 scoring surge to regain the lead, 36-33. Farrall buried a three for the Falcons and jumpers by Latham and Cash McClure put the home team back on top.
- With 43 seconds left in the first half, Ramirez received a pass from Oliver-Bush and scored while being fouled. His free throw tied the score at 36-36.
- Both teams scored one more basket apiece before the halftime horn. After a block by Ramirez on the defensive end, Oliver-Bush raced down the court and kissed a layup off the window. Farrall responded with a buzzer-beating layup to make it a 38-38 game at the break.
- Made field goals by Farrall and Latham helped Bentley take control early in the second half. Ramirez got a layup to go for Saint Anselm at the other end, but Misic connected from long range once again to put the Falcons in front, 45-41.
- The Hawks then put together a couple stops on the defensive end, which allowed them to tie the score at 45-45 after buckets in the paint by Archer and Morissette.
- Bentley was able to get down low on their next couple of trips with Clarke and Misic scoring in the paint, but senior Zac Taylor (Victoria, Australia) stepped up for Saint Anselm and knocked down back-to-back threes to cut the deficit down to one point with the score at 52-51.
- The Falcons scored the next five points to increase their lead back up to six points with 12 minutes left. Roman Dre sunk a triple for Bentley and McClure followed that up with a layup on the next possession.
- Saint Anselm started to catch fire from deep with under 10 minutes remaining. Morissette, Oliver-Bush, and McCarthy drilled threes on three consecutive possessions, which allowed the Hawks to regain the lead, 62-61.
- Latham provided the answer for Bentley with a three of his own to put his team back ahead by two points, but another layup by Ramirez tied it back up at 64-64.
- The Falcons used the offensive glass to take command with less than six minutes to go. After a couple of missed shots, Farrall hit the offensive boards and poured in two straight layups, giving Bentley a 68-64 advantage with 4:33 left.
- After going almost four minutes without scoring, the Hawks got back into the game with big plays at both ends. Davies came up with a timely block at one end and Ramirez finished in transition at the other to make it a two-point game.
- Saint Anselm got another stop on defense and with two minutes to go, Oliver-Bush nailed another three to put his team in front, 69-68.
- Misic answered in a big way for the Falcons, going on a personal 5-0 run after making a layup and a three to give Bentley the lead back, 73-69, with 1:07 to play.
- Archer stepped up for the Hawks in clutch time. The senior made a layup while being fouled and then knocked down the free throw to make it a one-point game with 57 seconds left.
- Saint Anselm then fouled and sent McClure to the line for Bentley. He missed the front end of a one-on-one and the Hawks grabbed the rebound.
- At the other end, Ramirez got it in the post and kicked it out to Davies, who buried a three-pointer at the top of the key with 4.7 seconds left to give Saint Anselm a 75-73 lead. McClure got off a three at the buzzer for Bentley, but it was no good and the Hawks came away with the win.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Saint Anselm shot the ball efficiently, making 30 field goals on 65 attempts from the floor (46.2 percent). The Hawks went 16 for 32 (50.0 percent) in the first half. Bentley was a bit less efficient, shooting 30 for 71 from the field (42.3 percent).
- The Hawks also had a great night shooting from deep with nine makes out of 22 attempts (40.9 percent), including seven made threes in the second half. The Falcons made 10 of their 27 shots from long distance (37.0 percent).
- Neither team got to the free throw line at a high rate. Saint Anselm made only six of their 11 foul shots (54.5 percent), while Bentley went just three for six (50.0 percent).
- The Falcons slightly out-rebounded the Hawks, 42-38. The Falcons also maintained a 14-9 edge on the offensive glass.
- Saint Anselm outscored Bentley in the paint, 38-32. Both teams scored a majority of their points out of the half court offense as the two sides combined for just eight fastbreak points. The Hawks held a 6-2 lead in that area, while the Falcons held a 14-8 edge in second chance points.
- The bench for Saint Anselm provided them with a solid spark and contributed 17 points in the win. The reserve unit for Bentley produced 13 points.
- There were eight ties and 12 lead changes in a back-and-forth game. The Hawks led by as many as 12 points, while the largest lead for the Falcons was six points. After a tie score at halftime, Bentley led for most of the second half until a late comeback in the last minute by Saint Anselm.
- The Hawks punished the Falcons with 13 points off of their 10 turnovers. The Falcons scored only eight points off of 11 giveaways by the Hawks.
- Defensively, Saint Anselm recorded six blocks and five steals, while Bentley produced three blocks and five steals.
- The Hawks shared the ball well with 17 assists on 30 made baskets. The Falcons also distributed the rock with 16 assists on 30 made field goals.
- Six players finished with eight or more points for Saint Anselm. McCarthy and Oliver-Bush led the Hawks in scoring with 15 points apiece. Archer and McCarthy hauled in nine rebounds each.
- Farrall led the Falcons with a game-high 20 points and seven rebounds, while Latham finished with 17 points and six assists.
- This marked the 108th all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm improves to 54-54 overall against Bentley in the series that began in 1975.
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