GOFFSTOWN - Southern New Hampshire University couldn't protect the paint - or anywhere else.

St. Anselm sophomore guard Roy Mabrey scored 22 points as the Hawks exploited and outmuscled SNHU, 89-67, in the Northeast-10 nightcap at Stoutenburgh Gym on Tuesday. In the early game, the SNHU women pounded the Hawks, 59-45.

Sophomore forward Chris Santo scored 18 points, and junior Dino Mallios had 14 points for the St. Anselm men, who played in midseason form. SNHU owns a 29-27 all-time record in series, but the Penmen haven't won at the Hawks' nest in five seasons. Both teams moved to 3-1 overall and 1-1 in the NE-10.

"Not many teams win here. It's a tough place. You have to give all the credit to St. A's for the way they physically dominated us for long stretches of the game," SNHU coach Stan Spirou said. "They took it to us. When you're giving up that many points in the paint and their biggest guy is 6-(foot)-5, you're not guarding anyone."

SNHU guard Rodney Sanders (16 points) hit consecutive jumpers in the second half, trimming the St. A deficit to eight points with 12:22 remaining. The ball-screening Hawks, however, broke down the SNHU defense for easy layups by Dino Mallios (14 points) and Santo.

St. Anselm began pulling away on a Mabrey jumper with 8:19 remaining. SNHU guard Mike Stys, a Manchester Central grad, fouled out on the play and was sidelined with 16 points.

"We didn't execute on the defensive end," said Stys, who hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second half. "They have a high-powered offense, and we didn't communicate on screens. We didn't play as a team. We need to learn from this."

The first half featured five lead changes and strong play from St. Anselm junior guard John Nielsen, who gave the Hawks an 18-15 lead on his second three-pointer. Mabrey had eight points at the break as the hosts took a 38-25 lead into the locker room.

The Hawks caught fire in the second half - shooting 50 percent from the floor - and buried the Penmen with crisp offensive sets.

"I don't think we're necessarily playing as well as we can on offense, but you look at the stat sheet, and we put up 89 points," St. Anselm coach Keith Dickson said. "I was proud of our effort. There was a stretch in the second half when they made a run at us, but we never let them get too close."

The Hawks take a week-long break before playing at Merrimack next Wednesday. SNHU heads to Franklin Pierce University for another NE-10 contest next Wednesday.