The men’s basketball team faced off against Southern Connecticut on Sunday, Feb. 25 at home. The playoff battle ended in great fashion for the Saint Anselm Hawks as they bested Southern Connecticut Owls by a score of 93-86. Freshman forward Chris Paul was the leading scorer for the Hawks who had a great performance and put up 25 points along with 7 boards.

The game did not come easy for the Hawks, as Southern Connecticut opened the game on a 9-0 run. However, the Hawks steadied themselves and eventually took the lead at 42-32 with 5:10 left in the first half. The Owls would not go quietly into the half as they went on a ferocious 16-5 run and eventually end the half up one by a score of 48-47.

This playoff matchup was truly a game of runs as the game started and ended up virtually even in field goal percentage as well as assists and turnovers. The play of juniors Cody Ball and Tim Guers, who both scored 19 points, eventually lifted the Hawks over the Owls. Senior guard Taylor Fortin contributed 16 points and 7 rebounds, which also greatly helped the Hawks.

The Hawks came out soaring in the second half going up by a score of 63-57 only 5:52 into the second half. However, along with the Owl’s leading scorer Isaiah McLeod who dropped 31, the Owls would surge back to cut the deficit to one with 2:42 to play. Fortin, the captain once again stepped up and caught fire scoring 6 straight points to go up 80-70 with 7:51.

Once again the Owl’s persevered on a ridiculous 12-4 run once again cutting the deficit to single digits. The Hawks would go on to catch fire again and never look back with 4:10 remaining and proceeded to go on a 10-0 run to eventually seal the playoff win. With the win last Sunday the top-seeded Hawks will host Bentley University at 7:00 pm on Wednesday Feb. 28.

Bentley enters the much anticipated playoff bout with the Hawks with a 16-11 regular season record. These teams have met twice this year both with the Hawks coming out victorious by scores of 88-86 and 86-66. The Hawks have their work cut out for them as it is always difficult to beat a team three times in any sport. You can be sure Bentley is out for revenge after being embarrassed by 20 points in the previous matchup.