Men's Basketball

The Saint Anselm men's and women's basketball teams open up the 2009-2010 regular season on Sunday, November 15 with a pair of non-conference games. The men's team opens up on the road at Holy Family, while the women open up at home with Post University. Both games are slated for a 2 p.m. start.

Saint Anselm at Holy Family (Philadelphia, Pa. - 2 p.m., The Campus Center)

The All-Time Series: The all-time series with Holy Family stands at 2-0 in favor of Saint Anselm, including an 87-66 win over the Tigers at Stoutenburgh Gym on December 30, 2008. The first-ever meeting with the Tigers came on December 28, 2005, as the Hawks came away with an 86-67 victory in the Comfort Suites Classic in Smithfield, R.I.

A Look at Saint Anselm: Coming off a run to the Northeast-10 Conference Tournament semifinals that included a road upset of two-time defending champion Bentley University, the Saint Anselm returns nearly its entire roster from last year's 17-13 squad. The team began the season at 10-1, the best start ever under head coach Keith Dickson, who enters his 24th season at Saint Anselm.

Offensively, the team is led by All-America candidate Thomas Baudinet (Watertown, Conn.), who was a Daktronics Second Team All-Region selection as a sophomore. Baudinet, a co-captain who averaged 18.1 points per game, was the fourth leading scorer in the Northeast-10, earning Third Team All-Conference honors. In addition, Baudinet was recently named as a Sporting News Honorable Mention Preseason All-American.

Also returning in backcourt are senior co-captain Greg Vetrano (Andover, Mass.) and junior Pat Luptowski (Keene, N.H.). Vetrano averaged 12.6 points and a team-best 5.5 assists per game as a junior, while Luptowski poured in 11.1 points per game while shooting 44.6 percent from the field. In addition, Luptowski, a transfer from Adelphi University, shot a blistering 41.9 percent from three-point land. Sophomores Hakeem Williams (Spring Valley, N.Y.) and Oliver Hunter (Bedford, N.H.) both showed flashes of brilliance last season as rookies and saw action in nearly every game. Junior John Mariano (Naugatuck, Conn.) has gotten stronger and worked on his shooting touch, which should help the depth in the backcourt. Zach Dugas (Monroe, Conn.), who saw his 2008-2009 season end before it began with an injury, is healthy for the Hawks and with his talent and shooting ability, he will impact the backcourt rotation greatly.

In the front court, senior Branimir Zeko (Mississauga, Ontario) anchors the team's presence down low. Zeko, who stands at 6-8, averaged 7.0 points and team-best 6.8 rebounds per game while shooting 46.6 percent from the field. Sophomore Jack Keough (Owego, N.Y.) played in all 30 games as a freshman, averaging 6.1 points and 4.7 rebounds. The Hawks added one freshman in Quinn Woodhouse (Gaylord, Mich.), who is strong at 6-4, 205 pounds and has some athletic ability to help make an impact as a rookie.

Off the bench, the Hawks are deep with four other players seeing action in at least 25 games last season and averaging at least 14 minutes per game.

A Look at Holy Family: Last season, Holy Family went 8-20 overall and 7-9 in the CACC. The Tigers were third in the southern division and qualified for the CACC Championship Tournament.

Forward Justin Swidowski is the lone starter returning to the Holy Family line-up. He was named as the Eastern College Athletic Conference and CACC rookie of the year. Swidowski led the Tigers in points per game (16.1), rebounds per game (8.0) and blocked shots (64). He connected on 55.1 percent of his shots from the field and 75.6 percent of his free throw attempts. In the CACC, he was second in field goal percentage and blocks, third in rebounding, sixth in free throw percentage and seventh in scoring.

Seventh-year head coach Alfred Johnson has brought in three Division I transfers: forward Ismaila Troare, forward Rickie Crews and guard Kahlil Mumford. Traore and Mumford came from St. Peter's College, while Crews transferred from Monmouth. The team also brought in forward Sam Mushman from Division II Wingate.

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Post University at Saint Anselm (Manchester, N.H. - 2 p.m., Stoutenburgh Gym)

The All-Time Series: The all-time series stands in favor of Saint Anselm at 2-0 as this will be the third straight season that the two teams have played. Saint Anselm won the first-ever meeting by a 73-58 final on November 28, 2007, followed by a 75-50 rout last year in Waterbury, Conn. Overall, the Hawks face four CACC teams this season in Post, Wilmington, Felician and Dominican.

A Look at Saint Anselm: Saint Anselm opens the 2009-2010 season with plenty of new faces as the Hawks welcome five new players to the mix, along with eight returners. Leading the way is sophomore forward Megan Howard, who was the only player in the Northeast-10 to average a double-double last season as she put up 15.6 points per game and pulled down 10.7 rebounds. She ended the season ranked seventh in the league in scoring was the league's leading rebounder as she ended with 18 double-doubles for the season, which led the Northeast region. Junior guard Jennifer Gureckis saw time in 21 games last season, starting 18, and averaged 9.1 points and 3.1 rebounds while dishing a team-best 51 assists. Senior forward Courtney May started a career-high 27 games as she averaged 8.1 points and 8.5 rebounds per game while shooting a team-best 46.1 percent from the field. Senior guard Erin Higgins and sophomore forward Haley Poupore also return to the lineup this season after being limited due to injury last season. Higgins was injured in the first game of the season, while Poupore was hurt midway through the season.

The Hawk newcomers feature four freshman and one sophomore transfer. In the backcourt, the new faces include freshmen Rose Badja and Kellianne Josephsen, along with sophomore Epiphany Smith. Smith comes to Saint Anselm from Texas-Pan American, where she started all 30 games and averaged 10 points while posting a team-best 129 assists. Up front, two Maine products join the team with Courtney Tobey and Morgan Frame. Tobey was a Class I Second Team All-State selection as a senior, while Frame was the Gatorade Player of the Year for the State of Maine and Miss Maine Basketball.

A Look at Post: The Eagles come into this season following a 4-23 season last year, including a 1-16 CACC mark as Post lost 11 of its final 12 games. The top returning scorer is junior guard Mallorie Michalak, who averaged 11.4 points per game last season as she started 23 of 27 games. In addition, she shot a team-best 34.8 percent from three-point land, knocking down 46 attempts from behind the arc. Cassidie Ern is the top returning rebounder after pulling down 5.2 boards per game as a freshman. The Eagles welcome five freshman to the roster this season as well. In the CACC Preseason Coaches Poll, Post University was chosen to finish sixth in the North Division with 24 points, just two points ahead of last-place Concordia University.

New Faces Behind the Bench: Saint Anselm welcomes first-year head coach DeAnn Craft to the Hilltop. Craft came to Saint Anselm from Division I Texas-Pan American, where she coached for the past six seasons. Last year, her team tied a program record for wins as the Lady Broncs posted a 14-16 overall record, including a 10-3 record at home. In addition to coach Craft, the program also welcomes three new assistant coaches in Allison Flynn, Josh Goldstein and Ben Sarraf.

Helping the Homeless: At next Wednesday's Northeast-10 opener at Southern New Hampshire, the SNHU Athletic Department is offering a FREE game ticket to anyone who brings NEW gloves, hats, mittens or socks to the SNHU Fieldhouse. Help support this great cause as the Penmen and Hawks look to help the homeless in the Southern New Hampshire area. The Saint Anselm/SNHU women's game tips off at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men's start at 7:30 p.m.