Senior Sam Markle matched his career-high with 13 points in his final collegiate game tonight. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane) |
Skyhawks season draws to a close as Hawks clinch regular season title
MANCHESTER, N.H. (February 26, 2013) – Saint Anselm College, ranked ninth in this week's NABC Division II poll, used a late first half surge to key a 70-52 victory over Stonehill College in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at Stoutenburg Gymnasium tonight.
Sophomore Chris Santo (Cherry Hill, N.J./Cherry Hill East) led a balanced Saint Anselm effort with a game-high 14 points off the bench on 5-of-9 shooting from the field while converting 4-of-6 free-throws to go with three rebounds and two steals. Junior Dino Mallios (Winthrop, Mass./Winthrop) was the only other Hawk in double-figures with 11 points, seven rebounds, five assists and two steals. Freshman Mike McCahey (Clarkstown, N.Y./Clarkstown South) added eight points, seven boards and three assists, while junior John Nielsen (Port Jefferson, N.Y./Loomis Chaffee) and freshman Victor Joshua (New Haven, Conn./Hamden Hall) each chipped in nine points off the bench.
Senior Sam Markle (Branford, Conn./Saint Thomas More) led three Stonehill players in double-figures with a career-high matching 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting, including 1-for-3 from three-point range, five rebounds and two steals. Classmate Adam Fazzini (Drums, Pa./Crestwood) added 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 2-for-6 from deep, and two boards, while sophomore Jack Cole (New Providence, N.J./New Providence) contributed ten points, eight boards and four assists.
Senior Adam Fazzini finished with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting. (PHOTO BY Bert Lane) |
Saint Anselm shot 40.7-percent (24-for-59) from the field, including 48% (12-25) in the second half, and 70.8% (17-24) from the free-throw line, but was 5-for-17 (29.4%) from three-point range. The Hawks posted a 45-32 rebounding advantage, pulling down 15 offensive boards to outscore Stonehill 14-6 in second chance points, and the bench outscored the Skyhawks reserves 35-7. Stonehill shot 37.3% (22-59) from the field, including 48.3% (14-29) in the second half, but was just 8-30 (26.7%) from the floor in the first half as the Skyhawks missed all eight three-point attempts. The Skyhawks were outscored 17-3 at the free-throw line, converting 3-of-4 attempts.
Saint Anselm never trailed, scoring 11 of the first 13 points of the contest and staked out an 11 point lead (15-4) eight minutes into the game after four straight points from Santo. Stonehill scored six straight points to close within five (15-10) after a basket by Fazzini with 9:18 remaining in the half, but Saint Anselm pushed the lead back to ten (20-10) when Joshua was fouled shooting a three-pointer and converted all three tries from the free-throw line with 6:45 remaining.
Santo put Saint Anselm in front by 12 (24-12) with 4:53 on the clock. Stonehill drew back within nine (26-17) with a Cole layup, but the Hawks scored the final ten points of the half to carry a 19 point (36-17) lead into halftime. Nielsen drained two three-pointers during the final 3:24.
Stonehill cut its deficit to 14 (40-26) on a Markle three 2:15 into the second half and was able to close within ten (51-41) after a Markle jumper with nine minutes remaining. Saint Anselm held there and used an 11-0 run to open a game-high 21 point lead (64-43) after a Mallios jumper with 4:15 left to seal the victory.
Stonehill sees its 2012-13 season draw to a close with an 11-15 record overall, including a 7-15 mark in NE-10 play. Saint Anselm (22-4, 18-4 NE-10) clinches the NE-10 regular season championship with the win and will host an NE-10 Tournament quarterfinal on Sunday, March 3, at 3 p.m.
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