MANCHESTER, N.H. – The Thomas Jefferson University men's basketball team (6-4) fell to Saint Anselm (7-3), 88-83, in a matchup of regionally-ranked squads on Saturday. The Rams are eighth in this week's D2SIDA East Region Poll while the Hawks are tied for fourth.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
Jefferson netted the first basket of the game but Saint Anselm came back with six in a row to take the lead. With the score 10-6, the Hawks went on a 13-6 run to up the margin to 11 (23-12) with 12:53 on the clock. The Rams trailed by eight (33-25) before catching fire and scoring 12 straight points to go ahead by four (37-33) with 6:32 to go in the first half. Erik Timko led the way with five points, Antonin Kemkeng tallied four, and Hakim Byrd hit a three.
 
Saint Anselm responded and evened the score at 37 but back-to-back layups by Timko and Casey Jack restored a four-point Jefferson advantage with 3:55 remaining. The Rams maintained the upper hand for the rest of the period and had a 45-42 lead at the break. Timko led all players with 17 points on 5-of-8 shooting in the half.
 
In the second half, the Jefferson lead was still three (53-50) at the 15:49 mark. The Hawks then poured in the next seven points to go in front by four (57-53) before Timko and Kemkeng sank consecutive jumpers to tie it up at 57. Saint Anselm drilled a three and followed with a layup to take a 62-57 advantage with 11:05 on the clock. The Rams cut the deficit to one (68-67) before a 7-2 stretch by the Hawks increased their cushion to six (75-69) with 6:42 to play.
 
Jefferson was within two (81-79) with 2:19 left. However, Saint Anselm scored layups on its next two possessions while the Rams came up empty on two in a row and were then forced to foul. The Hawks went just 3-for-6 at the line in the final minute but Jefferson could not capitalize, making just one field goal down the stretch.
 
INSIDE THE BOXSCORE
Erik Timko: 31 points on 9-of-18 shooting (11-11 FT), 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals, 1 block
Antonin Kemkeng: 22 points on 11-of-18 shooting, 7 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block
Hakim Byrd: 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 rebound
Bismark Nsiah: 9 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 blocks, 1 steal
 
JEFFERSON AS A TEAM
FG: 33-of-70 (47.1%)
3PT: 6-of-20 (30.0%)
FT: 11-of-11 (100.0%)
 
NOTES
- Erik Timko recorded his fourth 30-point game of the season.
- The Rams did not miss a free throw for the first time this year.
- Jefferson's struggles against Saint Anselm continued as the Rams fell to 0-4 all-time against the Hawks.
 
UP NEXT
Jefferson takes on nationally-ranked Bentley on the road on Sunday, December 18^th at 1 p.m.