Men’s Basketball Opens Season With 83-69 Setback Against Nationally-Ranked Saint Anselm

Men’s Basketball Opens Season With 83-69 Setback Against Nationally-Ranked Saint Anselm

WALTHAM, Mass. – Senior guard Brandon Fields (Washington, D.C.) set the bar for his final season high in the Concordia College New York men's basketball team's season opener, matching his person-bests with 19 points and three steals, with the Clippers managing to turn a 21-point deficit against 21st-ranked nationally and reigning National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II East Region Champions Saint Anselm College down to five points midway through the second half of an 83-69 setback.

NOTES
• Concordia falls to 0-1.

• No. 21 Saint Anselm improves to 1-0.

STANDOUT PERFORMERS
• Fields scored a personal-best seven field goals while shooting 50 percent from the field to go with seven rebounds and three steals which matches his career high.

• Freshman guard Dan Porcic (Putnam, Conn.) scored 17 points in his collegiate debut on 5-9 shooting, with four of his baskets coming from beyond the arc.

• Junior forward Alex White Jr. (Middletown, Conn) pulled down a team-best eight rebounds.

• Senior guard Jesse Breeding (Cortlandt Manor, N.Y.) dished out a team-high three assists.

• For Saint Anselm, Miles Tension scored 19 points while Danny Evans chipped in 16 points with seven assists and Alonzo Jackson recorded 12 points with nine rebounds.

HOW IT HAPPENED
• Saint Anselm scored the opening basket of the contest via a triple, with Fields scoring for Concordia to make it 3-2 with 17:29 to play in the half.

• Facing a 13-7 deficit following back-to-back baskets by Saint Anselm, the Clippers used an 8-2 stretch with Fields, sophomore forward Devon Sims (Centreville, Va.) and freshman guard Dion Herrington (Englewood, N.J.) scoring during the stretch to knot the score at 15-all only for a 12-0 run by the Hawks creating a 27-15 score with 11:06 remaining in the half.

• The Hawks created a game-high 21-point lead late in the first half at 42-21, with the Clippers responding behind a 9-0 rally to create a 42-30 score with 1:39 left in the half.

• Concordia ended the half with three made free throws, while Saint Anselm connected on a pair of baskets to create a 46-33 halftime score.

• The two sides split the opening 10 points of the second half to keep the 13-point separation at 51-38 with 18:03 left in the contest.

• The Clippers used a 13-5 stretch, spanning 4:12 of game time to get within five at 56-51 with 13:51 remaining.

• The two sides swapped layups to maintain the five-point separation, only for a 7-0 Hawks run recreating the double-digit separation at 65-53 with 9:19 left to play.

• Back-to-back layups from freshman guard Fabian Rial (Bayamon, Puerto Rico) brought the deficit down to eight at 65-57, with the Clippers able to keep the separation at 10 or fewer until a late 6-0 spurt created a 79-66 score with 1:44 remaining.

• Concordia scored three-straight to bring it back to a 10-point game, but Saint Anselm scored the final four points of the night to create the final score.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE
• The Clippers converted on 23-60 shots, going 8-18 from three-point territory and 15-20 from the free throw line.

• Saint Anselm finished 32-69 from the field, 9-26 from distance and 10-15 from the free throw line.

• Concordia recorded nine assists while Saint Anselm had 18.

• Saint Anselm held a 43-35 advantage in rebounds.

• Concordia recorded eight steals, Saint Anselm swiped the ball away seven times on top of seven blocks.

• Concordia' bench scored 10 points while the Hawks got 23 from its bench.

• Concordia recorded 11 steals with six blocks while Caldwell stole the ball 12 times with one block.
 
UP NEXT
The men's basketball team concludes play at the Bentley Tip-Off Classic on Saturday, Nov. 9 against the host Falcons in a 5 p.m. contest.

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