Moreton posted his fifth double-double of the season tonight. (PHOTO BY SportsPix) |
Skyhawks seeded fourth in Northeast Division for NE10 Tournament
MANCHESTER, N.H. (February 20, 2018) – Saint Anselm College, ranked No. 6 in the most recent NCAA Division II East Regional rankings released last week, overcame an eight point deficit in the second half to claim an 82-72 triumph over Stonehill College, ranked eighth in the region, in Northeast-10 Conference men's basketball action at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium tonight.
Stonehill (16-11, 12-9 NE10) finishes in a tie for third in the NE10's Northeast Division standings, but will be seeded fourth for the upcoming NE10 Tournament, which gets underway on Friday. The Skyhawks will host Southwest Division No. 5 Adelphi University (11-17, 7-13 NE10) for a first round matchup at Merkert Gymnasium on Friday at 7 p.m. Tickets for Stonehill basketball games are available online in advance at stonehillskyhawks.com. Saint Anselm (20-7, 15-6 NE10) clinched the NE10's Northeast Division title with the win tonight and will host an NE10 Quarterfinal on Sunday at 3 p.m.
Freshmen Chris Paul (Highland Mills, New York/Don Bosco Prep) and Gustav Suhr-Jessen (Virum, Denmark) each posted double-doubles to lead Saint Anselm. Paul totaled a team-high 20 points with 12 rebounds, shooting 7-for-9 from the field and converted all six free-throws, while Suhr-Jessen added 14 points and team-high 13 rebounds, on 6-of-9 shooting. Junior Tim Guers (Langhorne, Pennsylvania/Germantown Academy) added 19 points, six rebounds, two assists, two steals and a blocked shot, while classmate Taylor Fortin (Tolland, Connecticut/Wilbraham & Monson Academy) totaled 18 points and seven assists. Junior Cody Ball (Londonderry, New Hampshire/Londonderry) rounded out the Hawks double-figure scorers with 11 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
Largey scored 14 first half points on 5-of-7 shooting, including all three three-pointers. (PHOTO BY SportsPix) |
Sophomore Will Moreton (Minneapolis, Minnesota/Edina) notched his fifth double-double of the season (sixth career) to lead Stonehill with 22 points and 13 rebounds, shooting 8-for-19 from the field, including 4-for-8 from three-point range. Classmate Dan Largey (Oceanport, New Jersey/Peddie School) scored 14 first half points on 5-of-10 shooting, including 3-for-5 from three-point distance, including 5-of-7 in the opening half, draining all three three-pointers, to go with seven rebounds and two assists.
Freshman Owen Chose (Eden Prairie, Minnesota/Eden Prairie) contributed 12 points, two boards and two assists off the bench, while sophomore Brandon Twitty (Randolph, Massachusetts/Catholic Memorial) chipped in nine points.
Stonehill connected on 10-of-15 three-pointers in the first half, but held just a one-point halftime lead on a Twitty three-pointer with five seconds left. The Skyhawks scored ten of the first 13 points of the second half to grab an eight point advantage (50-42) after two free-throws from senior KJ Lee (Huntington Station, New York/Long Island Lutheran) four minutes in. Twitty opened the second half with a four-point play, burying a three-pointer and then a free-throw.
Stonehill's lead was still eight (54-46) after a Moreton jumper with 12-minutes remaining, when Saint Anselm used a 13-5 run to force the 11th tie of the contest (59-59) following two Fortin free-throws with 8:27 remaining. Ball sparked the run with a three-pointer, while Guers netted four points during that stretch. Chose scored five straight points, including a three-pointer, to restore a five point Skyhawks lead (64-59), but the Hawks scored ten of the next 12 to grab the lead for good (69-66) after a Paul jumper with four minutes remaining.
Twitty followed with a jumper to pull Stonehill back within a point (69-68) , but the Skyhawks went without a field goal for the next three minutes, enabling Saint Anselm to claim a seven point lead (77-70) after a three-point play from Fortin with 40-seconds left that would put the game out of reach. The Hawks sealed the win from there by converting 5-of-6 free-throws the rest of the way.
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