Standish, Maine - Second-seeded Saint Joseph's College (20-5) jumped out to an early 8-point lead and withstood a first-half comeback en route to a dramatic 89-80 win over top-seeded Lincoln University in the title game of the Divsion III Northeast Regional Men's Basketball Championship on Saturday.

With the win, the Monks claim their first-ever Northeast Region Divsion III championship, improving to 20-7. Defending champion Lincoln (PA) falls to 18-8 as both teams await word of a Pool B NCAA bid.

The Monks came out of the locker room on fire, with an 8-0 run over in the first two-minutes in the first half. Saint Joseph's nailed three consecutive attempts during the barrage, including two straight three-pointers by sophomre guard Elbie Murphy. that gave them a 42-22 advantage with 3:26 left before the break.

Lincoln came storming back and took the lead with a pair of three-pointers by junior guard Sami Wyli (the second of which rained in from well behind the arc). Lincoln extended their lead with six minutes to go in the half, on another transition bucket by Derrick Washington, who was fouled in the act, and the Lions extended their lead to nine points, 36-27.

The Monks responded with a 7-0 run of their own highlighted by Muphy's three pointer and 4 points from senior Matt Plummer. The Monks went to the line 25 times making 15 in the opening period, shot at a blistering 5-for-11 clip from three-point range, and took a 46-42 lead into the locker room, despite shooting 40 percent from the floor.

The Monks kept the lead at 6 for the first 9 minutes of the second half, but Lincoln bridged the gap to 5 points when guard Earl Miller sank a jumper with 10:03 left in regulation. Miller then brought the Lions within three point with a lay-up, and Tyreek Byard made it a 1-point game with a jumper all within a minute.

That was as close as Lincoln would get. Within minutes captain Chad Pulkkinen grabbed a defensive rebound off a Lavine Grimes miss, dribbled the length of the floor and passed to a cutting Scot Vachon to give the Monks a three-point lead. Forty seconds later, Pulkkinen was againin the mix as he drew a foul en route to two more made free throws, extending the Monks lead to seven points, with 8:29 on the clock.

After a Vachon foul and Saint Joseph's timeout, Byard hit a clutch jumper to make it a five-point game, the closest the Lions would get with 6:52 left in the game.

Over the next four minutes, the Monks made 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch and two key baskets by Murphy to keep the Lions in check and the Monks did not look back as they extended their lead to a comfortable 11 points.

Murphy paced the Monks with a career-high 34 points (9-of-18 from the floor, including 4-of-7 from three and 12-of-17 from the foul line), 6 rebounds and 4 assists, while tournament MVP Marcus Alexander had 14 points and 7 rebounds. Colby Emmons came off the bench and had a double-double, 14 poinst and a game-high 11 rebounds. Pulkkinen chipped in with 12.

Tryeek Byard led three Lincoln players in double figures with 19 points. Miller added 16 points and Dante Blanton contributed 13 points.