MANCHESTER, N.H. – Saint Anselm College rallied from a 31-26 halftime deficit to post a 64-49 Northeast-10 men's basketball victory over Southern New Hampshire University Wednesday night at Stoutenburgh Gymnasium. The Hawks remain unbeaten as they improve to 3-0 and 1-0 in the NE-10, while the Penmen now stand 1-1 and 0-1 in the league.
Thomas Baudinet led the Hawks with 26 points, 19 of those coming in the final 20 minutes. Baudinet finished 11-21 from the field. Jack Keough was the other Saint Anselm player finishing in double figures, as he registered a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
Nikola Canic (Belgrade, Serbia) and Greg DeSantis (Trumbull, Conn.) led Southern New Hampshire with eight points apiece, while Lucas Croteau (Rochester, N.H.) and Cory Vejraska (Alachua, Fla.) each added seven points.
Saint Anselm outscored SNHU 9-3 over the first five-plus minutes of the second half to take their first lead of the game on a layup by Baudinet with 14:27 to play. The lead was short-lived, as Tory Stapleton (Rahway, N.J.) converted a layup on the other end for the Penmen on their next possession. SNHU rebuilt a five-point cushion, 40-35, on a layup by Croteau with just over 13 minutes left.
The Hawks then used an 11-0 run to take a 46-40 lead capped by a Baudinet three with 9:29 to go. Leading 53-49 following back-to-back DeSantis baskets, Saint Anselm held the Penmen scoreless for the final 5:14 as it closed the game on an 11-0 run.
SNHU never trailed in the first half and took a 10-4 lead five minutes into the game following a three by Josh Morgan-Green (Upper Marlboro, Md.). The Penmen took their largest lead, 15-8, with 11:24 left before halftime on another Morgan-Green trifecta. The Hawks would cut the lead to two twice, with an Allen Harris layup making it 17-15, but a three by Marcus Matthews (Valley Stream, N.Y.) with 6:48 left gave the Penmen another seven-point cushion, 24-17. The guests would take a 31-26 lead into the locker room.
Saint Anselm limited the Penmen to just 28% shooting in the second half and 35.8% for the game while outrebounding Southern New Hampshire 44-33.
Southern New Hampshire is back on the road Saturday when it travels to Mercy College for a 3:00 contest.
