by MANCHESTER, N.H. – Junior Juju Ramirez (Lawrence, Kan.) scored a career-high 20 points and grabbed five rebounds as the Saint Anselm College picked up their third straight win on Tuesday evening over Franklin Pierce. Senior Sean McCarthy (Cork, Ireland) recorded his third straight double-double in the win for the Hawks.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
- Saint Anselm got off to a 6-0 start thanks to four quick points by freshman Erik Oliver-Bush (Trenton, N.J.), which included a slam dunk in transition.
- Ja’Keese Kemp helped Franklin Pierce make it a 6-5 game after sinking a jumper in the paint followed by a triple.
- The Hawks countered soon after with a pair of threes knocked down by Ramirez and Oliver-Bush to extend their lead to 14-9.
- Donte Pope once again trimmed the deficit down to a point with consecutive layups for the Ravens to make it 14-13. The home team then took the lead, 17-16, after a made jumper by Pope and a layup by Aboubacar Wague.
- Midway through the first half, Ramirez gave Saint Anselm the lead back with a layup, but Franklin Pierce answered with a 10-0 run to jump in front, 27-19. Pope poured in another four points for the Ravens during that sequence.
- The visiting Hawks responded nicely over the next few minutes and outscored the Ravens, 11-2 to regain the lead. McCarthy got to the rim for a couple of layups to help make it a 30-29 game with two minutes left in the first half.
- The two teams then traded points for the remainder of the half. McCarthy sunk a pair at the free throw line to give his team a 34-33 advantage at halftime.
- Saint Anselm opened the second half with points on their first four possessions to maintain their lead. Four different players scored for the Hawks, including McCarthy and Oliver-Bush along with the first points of the game by junior Josh Morissette (Exeter, N.H.)
- McCarthy and Ramirez finished a pair of layups shortly after, but with 13:00 minutes to play, the score was tied at 47-47.
- After a missed three pointer by Franklin Pierce, senior Jadon Archer (Enfield, Conn.) grabbed the rebound and scored at the other end while being fouled. His made free throw gave Saint Anselm a 50-47 edge.
- Freshman Will Davies (Saco, Maine) then connected on a triple for the Hawks, but points on three straight trips by the Ravens including five from Kemp gave the home side a 54-53 advantage with 11 minutes remaining.
- Pope helped keep Franklin Pierce in front with a fastbreak dunk, but Morissette quickly tied the score back up with three made free throws.
- Ramirez knocked down another three and Davies followed that up with a fastbreak bucket to put Saint Anselm in the lead, 63-58.
- After a pair of made free throws by the Ravens, the Hawks put together an 18-0 scoring run over the next three minutes. Morissette provided his team with six points, while redshirt freshman Greg Cantwell (Glen Head, N.Y.) had five for Saint Anselm on that run.
- Franklin Pierce was able to break the scoring drought with a couple of easy layups, but a three by Oliver-Bush kept Saint Anselm in front by 20 points with the lead at 84-64 and under five minutes on the clock.
- The Hawks got several reserves into the game after that. Sophomore Jordan Horne (Newport News, Va.) and freshman Noah Dowling (Narrabeen, Australia) checked in off the bench and each buried a three pointer. Horne followed it up with a fastbreak layup to extend the lead to 92-67, the largest of the night for Saint Anselm.
- Saint Anselm closed the game with a few more free throws en route to their 95-73 road victory.
