Saint Anselm defeated Southern New Hampshire University 73-68 in the NE10 Tournament Championship on March 4. The Hawks advanced to the NCAA Division II East Regionals, however they lost in the first round to Saint Thomas Aquinas 91-72 on March 11.

Saint Anselm started out the game with high intensity, leading 9-2 early on. As the game went on, the intensity and mood changed in favor of STAC.

STAC dominated defensively, forcing turnovers and pressure on to Saint Anselm’s offense. Saint Anselm tried to hurry the tempo up and force pressure onto STAC but STAC capitalized on a lot of chances, scoring seventeen points from forced turnovers. STAC also earned many second chance points and got help from the bench which scored 20 points.

The Hawks were led by MVP of the NE10 Tournament, Cody Ball, who scored 17 points, two rebounds, and three assists. The Hawks also had help from Senior Forward Chris Braley who had 16 points, and 11 rebounds. STAC on the other hand had help from 2-time player of the year in the EAC, Justin Reyes, who had 32 points and 15 rebounds. Reyes was the key for the STAC offense as he got most of the rebounds which created the second chance opportunities. Saint Thomas also had help from sophomore Guard Adam Koziol who had 15 points and five rebounds.

The Hawks looked very nervous with the ball at times, giving away easy turnovers and not focusing on the ball. While it is not what the Hawks faithful had hoped for, Saint Anselm did finish the season as NE10 Champions.

The Hawks also finished with a record of 20 wins and 9 loses. They lived and died from beyond the arc. Saint Anselm shot 40 percent from beyond the arc as a team.

The team played great defense at times. Cody Ball and Tim Guers led scoring for the Hawks. Senior forwards of the Hawks, Chris Braley and Harrison Taggart, led the Hawks defensively and were the two best rebounders on the team.

While it will be hard to fill the shoes of Braley and Taggart, the Hawks could possibly look to get help from freshman forward Cole Gill and junior forwards Efthim Butka and Kyle Green. The Hawks will look to continue this success next year.