WATERBURY, Conn. –The Saint Anselm College men’s basketball team extended its winning streak to four games with a 91-74 victory over Post University in non-conference action on Sunday afternoon at the Drubner Center. Junior Juju Ramirez (Lawrence, Kan.) set a career-high for the second straight game, leading the Hawks with 25 points, while senior Zac Taylor (Victoria, Australia) contributed a season-high 18 points off the bench. Senior Sean McCarthy (Cork, Ireland) also reached a personal milestone, scoring his 1000th career point in the victory.
The win improves Saint Anselm’s record to 5-2 on the season, while Post drops to 5-3. The Hawks have now won four consecutive games.
Saint Anselm opened the game strong, with junior Josh Morissette (Exeter, N.H.) knocking down a three-pointer on the first possession. However, Post quickly answered with a 12-2 run, started by eight points from Deng Deang, who connected on a pair of threes. The Eagles extended their lead to 18-7 with 15:00 left in the first half, but the Hawks responded with an 7-0 run, thanks to a key layup from McCarthy and a tightened defense that held Post scoreless for nearly five minutes.
Despite Post pushing their lead back to 26-17 on three consecutive baskets, Saint Anselm kept chipping away. Ramirez hit a three-pointer, and redshirt freshman Greg Cantwell (Glen Head, N.Y.) added two more from beyond the arc to help close the gap to 31-30 with four minutes remaining.
The Hawks regained the lead before halftime after consecutive three-pointers from Morissette and Taylor, entering the locker room with a 40-36 advantage.
The second half began with McCarthy scoring the first six points for Saint Anselm, extending the lead to 46-36. Post answered with nine straight points from Deang, including a three-pointer, which cut the Hawks’ lead to 46-45.
Saint Anselm then went on an 11-0 run, capped by an and-one basket from Ramirez and a three-pointer from Morissette, to push their lead to 57-49. The Hawks extended their advantage to 10 points, 64-54, with 11:50 left, as Ramirez added two more layups during a stretch that saw the Hawks hold Post scoreless for over four minutes.
Taylor came alive down the stretch, draining two more three-pointers to push the Hawks’ lead to 80-57, their largest margin of the game. The Eagles were unable to recover, and Saint Anselm closed out the game with a 91-74 win.
The Hawks outperformed the Eagles in fastbreak points (15-9) and assists (22 to 10), while Post held a slight advantage in rebounding (39-37), largely due to a 13-2 edge in offensive rebounds. Juju Ramirez had a career-high 25 points and added six rebounds. This is the second consecutive game in which he has set a new personal scoring mark. Zac Taylor came off the bench to score a season-high 18 points and provided a significant spark for the Hawks. Sean McCarthy finished with 16 points , nine rebounds, and scored his 1000th career point.