PHILADELPHIA, Pa. – Sophomore
Paulius Rapolis scored a career-high 21 points to lead the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team to a 91-78 win at Jefferson University on Sunday at the Gallagher Center.
Highlights
- Rapolis scored 21 points in just 21 minutes, shooting 10-13 from the field and 1-1 from deep with seven rebounds and zero turnovers.
- Saint Anselm improves to 6-3 all-time against Jefferson in a series that began in 2001. The Hawks have won six of the past seven meetings over the Rams.
- Saint Anselm is now 5-1 on the year, winning its fourth straight game, marking the first 5-1 start to a season for the Hawks since the 2019-20 season.
- The Hawks shot over 50% from the field for the third time this season, going 35-66 (53.0%) while shooting 11-31 (35.5%) from deep.
- Saint Anselm won the rebounding battle 43-30, led by sophomore Jovan Ristic, who had 10 rebounds to go with 11 points for his fourth double-double of the year.
- Sophomore Will Davies also recorded a double-double, the second of the season and of his career, scoring 10 points while matching his career-high of 12 assists. Davies also tallied six rebounds and a blocked shot.
- Senior Josh Morissette scored an efficient 13 points, going 5-9 from the field with a pair of three-pointers in 27 minutes.
- Junior Jack Medalie and freshman Edward Onyia each had 10 points, with Medalie filling up the stat sheet, dishing out seven assists while corralling seven rebounds.
- Saint Anselm never trailed, and there were just two ties in a wire-to-wire win for the Hawks.
How it Happened
Saint Anselm made its first four shot attempts, and after the Hawks' first miss, Ristic and Rapolis scored on back-to-back possessions as Saint Anselm led 13-4. Rapolis continued his hot start, knocking down his first career three-pointer to give the Hawks a 10-point lead, 16-6.
A Morrissette three-pointer extended the lead to 11, but Jefferson countered with an 8-0 run to make a three-point game, 19-16. Onyia checked into the game and instantly hit a three and made a layup, but the Rams continued to hang around, tying the game at 24-24 with eight minutes left in the half.
The Hawks ended the half on a 19-9 run fueled by three more paint baskets for Rapolis and a late three-pointer from Davies that made the score 43-33 at the break. Medalie opened the second-half scoring for the Hawks with a three-pointer, and Rapolis had another pair of makes down low to increase the lead to 12, 50-38.
A quick 8-0 run from Jefferson made it a four-point game, 50-46, but Saint Anselm responded with a run of its own, as freshman
Hayden Johns drilled a corner three followed by a fastbreak layup as the Hawk lead went back to 13 points, 59-46.
Saint Anselm concluded its run with 15 unanswered points, holding a 65-46 lead with 12:24 left on the clock. The Hawks led by double-digits the rest of the way, closing out the win by a score of 91-78.
Up Next
Saint Anselm men's basketball (5-1, 0-0 NE10) closes out a three-game road trip with its Northeast 10 Conference opener at Saint Michael's College (2-3, 0-0 NE10) at the Ross Sports Center in Colchester, Vt., on Wednesday, Dec. 3, at 7:30 p.m.
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