ROCKVILLE CENTRE, N.Y. – The Saint Anselm College men's basketball team was defeated in a non-conference contest against Molloy on Sunday afternoon by a final score of 93-79.
UP NEXT:
- Saint Anselm travels to West Haven, Conn. for a Northeast-10 Conference matchup against New Haven on Wednesday, January 8th at 7:30 p.m.
Score: Saint Anselm 79, Molloy 93
Records: Saint Anselm (7-6), Molloy (4-8)
Location: Rockville Centre, N.Y. (Bob Houlihan Gymnasium)
Date: Sunday, January 5th, 2025
Attendance: 167
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Junior Juju Ramirez (Lawrence, Kan.) opened the scoring for Saint Anselm with a jumper in the paint. Two free throws by senior Sean McCarthy (Cork, Ireland) gave the Hawks a 4-0 lead in the early going.
- Ramirez then made consecutive layups to make it 10-7 in favor of the visitors. Dylan Kopp posted five quick points for Molloy to get their offense going.
- After a layup by McCarthy at the 15:20 mark, the Lions went on a 6-0 run to take a 15-12 lead. Rob Matos scored four of the six points during that two-minute spell for Molloy.
- On the next offensive possession for Saint Anselm, junior Josh Morissette (Exeter, N.H.) sunk a three-pointer to tie the score at 15-15.
- Payton Shumpert answered with back-to-back triples of his own for Molloy to help them obtain a 23-15 advantage.
- Freshman Will Davies (Saco, Maine) ended that sequence with a jumper in the paint for the Hawks, but Shumpert and Bryce Merchant knocked down threes on consecutive possessions to increase the Lions' lead to 29-17 with nine minutes left in the half.
- Saint Anselm quickly responded and trimmed the lead back down to six points. Senior Zac Taylor (Victoria, Australia) and redshirt freshman Greg Cantwell (Glen Head, N.Y.) each connected from long distance to cut the deficit down to 31-25.
- A three by Merchant and five straight points including a three-pointer by Matos pushed the Molloy lead back up to 10 points with the score at 40-30.
- Ramirez got back to work on the offensive end for Saint Anselm with a layup in the post and Oliver-Bush knocked down a three shortly after, but two more triples late in the half by Matos allowed Molloy to take a 48-37 advantage into the locker room at halftime.
- Matos continued his scoring prowess with the first two makes out of the break for the Lions. McCarthy provided the answer for the Hawks with their first five points of the second half, including an and-one bucket that kept the deficit at 10 points with the score at 52-42.
- Morissette then cashed in from deep and McCarthy made a pair at the free throw line as the visitors made it a seven-point game.
- The two sides exchanged threes after that with Merchant hitting for the Lions and Ramirez for the Hawks, which kept the margin at seven with the score at 57-50.
- Matos helped increase the Molloy lead back up to 12 points with a pair of layups, but Saint Anselm refused to go away as Oliver-Bush and Morissette each buried triples that cut the deficit back down to six points as the Lions led, 64-58, with 12:50 to play.
- Morissette was able to knock down two more threes for the Hawks after that, but the Lions orchestrated a 14-7 run to pull ahead by 13 points with seven minutes remaining. Matos and Merchant combined for all 14 of Molloy's points over that span with Merchant posting 10 of them.
- The Lions' lead was cut back down to 10 after Morissette connected once again from three-point range. A fastbreak layup by McCarthy made it an eight-point game, but that was the closest the Hawks got over the final 6:22 of the game.
- Shumpert and Merchant provided early daggers with consecutive threes to extend Molloy's lead to 84-70.
- Ramirez was able to make another triple of his own for the Hawks in response, but Matt Lane posted six quick points for the Lions including a fastbreak dunk as the home team started to pull away with a 16-point lead, their largest of the game, with 3:33 left.
- Shumpert made one final three for Molloy, their 14th of the game, and the Lions surged to a 93-79 victory on home court.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS:
- Molloy was efficient from the floor, making 36 of their 69 field goal attempts (52.2 percent). Saint Anselm had a below average game shooting and made only 25 of their 63 shot attempts (39.7 percent).
- The Lions had an excellent game shooting from long distance and knocked down 14 three-pointers out of 29 attempts (48.3 percent). The Hawks made 12 out of 35 three-point tries (34.3 percent).
- Saint Anselm shot it well from the free throw line and went 17 for 23 (73.9 percent) compared to just seven makes out of 12 attempts (58.3 percent) at the stripe by Molloy.
- The Lions held a 42-34 advantage on the boards. Offensive rebounds were all tied up at 11 apiece.
- Molloy also outscored Saint Anselm in the paint, 38-26, and in fastbreak points, 14-9. The Hawks held a 12-8 lead in second chance points and also led in bench scoring, 8-3.
- The game featured only one tie and one lead change, both of which came early in the first half. Molloy took the lead with 12:38 remaining in the first half and did not relinquish it after that point.
- The Lions recorded 13 points off of 13 turnovers by the Hawks. Saint Anselm recorded 10 points off of 14 Molloy giveaways.
- Defensively, the Hawks recorded three blocks and seven steals, while the Lions tallied two blocks and seven steals.
- As a team, Saint Anselm posted 20 assists on their 25 made field goals. Molloy had 16 assists on their 36 made field goals.
- McCarthy led the Hawks in scoring with 21 points (5-10 FG, 11-12 FT) to go along with five rebounds and three assists. Morissette, Ramirez, and Oliver-Bush each finished in double figure scoring in the loss for Saint Anselm.
- The Lions were led by Matos, who posted a game-high 29 points (12-24 FG, 3-8 3PT, 2-3 FT) and six assists. Merchant had 28 points (11-15 FG, 5-8 3PT, 1-1 FT), five rebounds, and three assists for Molloy.
- This marked the third all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm falls to 2-1 overall against Molloy in the series that began in 2015.
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