MANCHESTER, New Hampshire - The American International College men's basketball team put it all together in its Northeast-10 Conference opener, downing Saint Anselm College 91-82 on Saturday, November 16.
AIC is now 1-3 in 2024-25, with a 1-0 NE10 mark.
The Hawks opened with a 9-2 run, holding AIC without a field goal until Lovre Zaja drained a three off a dish by Reece Brown over three minutes into the contest. Jack Hall then knocked a triple down on AIC's next possession, all but evaporating the early lead, and a subsequent Hall three set up by Zaja just shy of the five-minute mark put AIC up 13-11 and forced a Hawks timeout.
The stoppage did nothing for the home team, as AIC expanded on the advantage it had, with a Kanye Wavezwa three putting the Yellow Jackets ahead 25-15 with 11:26 left in the half. The Hawks turned it up and closed the gap, only to see Buka Peikrishvili and Bryce Simmons hit deep shots to restore a six-point AIC edge with 6:42 in the frame still left.
Both sides hit shots down the stretch, but AIC maintained the advantage throughout the half. The final three makes of the half were all from the stripe, as Hall was fouled firing a three, and he did not miss any of his opportunities, giving AIC the 48-42 cushion as the teams headed to the locker room.
The Yellow Jackets put the pedal to the floor early in the second half, with Justice Ellison taking a pass from Zaja and burying a three to give AIC a 57-44 advantage 3:21 in, forcing a Hawks timeout. That lead ballooned to 61-44 before the Hawks hit back-to-back long shots to reach 50.
Saint Anselm simply could not catch up to AIC's offense, as contributions from all around the Yellow Jackets lineup meant that the visiting team's lead rarely dropped to single digits again, and on the few occasions it did, the Yellow Jackets knocked in another triple to re-establish that margin. The team also succeeded from the line late when the Hawks tried to extend the game, closing out the 91-82 win comfortably.
Ellison led the team in scoring with 20, one of five Yellow Jackets in double figures; he also dished six assists and swiped the ball three times. Abdullah Mahamed reached a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Zaja had 10 points, nine boards, and a game-best seven helpers.
Overall, AIC shot 45.9 percent from the floor, including 48.3 percent from deep, and were 91.3 percent at the line as well with a 21-for-23 success clip; the team has hit 20-plus free throws and converted above a 90 percent rate in back-to-back games for the first time since at least 2007-08, when game-by-game data for the program is available.
The win also marked a milestone for Head Coach Andy Burkholder, who secured his 100th win as the program's leader.
The team continues its road swing with a nonconference contest at Queens College on Wednesday, November 20 at 7:00 p.m.
