Worcester, Mass. (February 21) -- Despite a team-high 23 points from sophomore Kamali Bey (Springfield, Mass./Wilbraham & Monson Academy), the Assumption College men's basketball team dropped an 86-76 final to visiting Saint Anselm College on Saturday afternoon. The Hounds led by an eight-point margin midway thru the second period before the Hawks rallied for the win.

Saint Anselm quickly surged to a double-digit lead over the game's opening seven minutes, leading 19-8 with 12:58 on the clock following two free throws from Chris Santo. The lead stood at 23-10 Hawks at the 11:28 mark before a convincing 20-5 scoring run eventually put the Hounds up 30-28 with 4:55 left in the first half. Bey put the Hounds in front on the layup as sophomore Julian Aiken (Randolph, N.J./Randolph) fed Bey with the pass for one of his two assists on the afternoon. Keying the run though were seven points out of sophomore Reilly Reid (Mississauga, Ontario/Lorne Park) as he went on to finish the game with an 11-point outing.

Back-to-back layups from Bey put the Hounds up 34-30 with 3:16 left in the period before a 7-2 Saint Anselm run eventually sent the game into the break at 37-36 in favor of the Hawks. Reid led the Hounds with 11 points in the first half, while Roy Mabrey paced all scorers with 13 points in the opening period. Assumption shot 53.8 percent from the field in the period and forced nine Saint Anselm turnovers, while the Hawks shot just 35.7 percent overall.

Saint Anselm came out hot in the second half to take a 41-36 lead following a Victor Joshua triple just 2:34 into the period. The Hounds answered quickly however and regained the advantage at 46-44 on a Bey layup with just over 13 minutes on the clock. Assumption led by as many as eight, including at 63-55 after a layup from junior Karl Ziegler (Annandale, Va./Annandale), before the Hawks mounted what turned out to be the game-winning rally.

Santo put the Hawks up 66-65 on a layup at the 6:02 mark and the game remained at one point at 70-69 moments later after two free throws from Ziegler. Saint Anselm closed the game on a 16-7 spurt though as the Hawks knocked down seven free throws in the final minutes for the 10-point final margin.

Bey led the Hounds with a 23-point effort, along with 19 from Ziegler. Junior Terrance Bobb-Jones (Wilmington, Del./Delcastle-Voc Tech) finished with a 12-point, 10-rebound double-double while Reid added 11. Mabrey finished with a game-high 24 for the Hawks, who had four players end the game in double figures.

With the loss, Assumption drops to 8-17 overall and 5-15 in Northeast-10 play, while Saint Anselm improves to 17-7 overall and 14-6 in the league.

Assumption is back in action on Tuesday, February 24th as the Hounds host Southern New Hampshire for a 7:30 p.m. start. The game is also the team's Senior Day, where seniors Matt Bailey (Cheshire, Conn./Cheshire) and Jimmy Zenevitch (Methuen, Mass./Central Catholic) will be honored prior to the beginning of the game.

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