COLCHESTER, Vt. – Freshman
Edward Onyia recorded his first career double-double and junior
Jack Medalie scored 15 second-half points to lead the Saint Anselm College men's basketball team to an 88-69 win over Saint Michael's College at the Ross Sports Center in the Hawks' Northeast 10 Conference opener on Wednesday.
Highlights
- This marked the 133rd all-time meeting between these two programs. Saint Anselm improves to 77-56 overall against Saint Michael's in the series that began in 1939. Tonight was the second of three contests the two teams will have this season, with the Hawks winning both matchups so far.
- Saint Anselm is now 6-1 on the year, winning its fifth straight game, marking their best start to a season since going 10-0 to begin 2018-19 season.
- Onyia tallied career-highs of 20 points and 13 rebounds, shooting 7-10 from the field, 2-3 from deep, and 4-4 from the line with five offensive rebounds, one assist, and one block in 25 minutes off the bench.
- Medalie sparked the Hawks' comeback, scoring 15 of his 17 points in the second half, shooting 8-13 from the floor to go with six rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
- Freshman Hayden Johns had 14 points in just 18 minutes off the bench, with three boards, two assists, a block, and a steal.
- Sophomore Will Davies scored all nine of his points in the second half while dishing out 12 assists for the second game in a row. Davies has recorded 10+ assists in four of the seven games this season, leading the NE10 with 8.4 per contest.
- Sophomore Jovan Ristic scored in double-figures for the fifth game in a row, sixth time overall, tallying 11 points with seven rebounds and an assist. Ristic currently leads the NE10 with 10.1 rebounds per game this season.
- The Hawks cleaned up on the glass, outrebounding the Purple Knights 49-32 with 21 offensive rebounds. This was the second time this season Saint Anselm recorded 20+ offensive rebounds, and the Hawks recorded 49 total rebounds when they played Saint Michael's earlier this season.
- Saint Anselm's 21 offensive rebounds are the most in a single game since the Hawks recorded 22 on Nov. 12, 2017, against Georgian Court.
- After trailing by as much as 10 and not leading for the entire first half, the Hawks' lead grew to as much as 19 as Saint Anselm led for the final 10 minutes of the game.
How it Happened
The Saint Anselm offense started slow, falling behind by 10, 19-9, but a quick 8-0 run for the Hawks, six of which came from Onyia, cut the deficit back to two points, 19-17.
A dunk from sophomore
Paulius Rapolis made it a one-point game, 23-22, but Saint Michael's went on another run to build its lead back to eight points, 36-28. The Purple Knights led at the half, 38-31, as Onyia paced the Hawks with 10 points and six rebounds in the first.
Medalie started the second half with a trio of layups inside, sparking an 8-2 run that made it a one-point game, 40-39. The Purple Knights answered with a 9-5 score spree to push their lead back to five, 49-44. A fastbreak dunk for Ristic ignited the Hawks' offense, giving way to a 6-0 run that saw Saint Anselm take its first lead of the game, 50-49.
Saint Michael's retook the lead, 59-55, but Johns and Onyia scored the Hawks' next 14 points while the Saint Anselm defense only gave up two points to take a 69-61 lead with just over six minutes left in the game.
The Hawks went 11-11 down the stretch, including a 3-3 clip from long range to end the game on a 26-8 run, securing the 88-69 win on the road.
Up Next
Saint Anselm men's basketball (6-1, 1-0 NE10) is back home at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium on Saturday, Dec. 13, at 1:30 p.m. for a non-conference matchup with Southern New Hampshire University (4-3, 0-1 NE10).
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