LEWISTON, ME - NESCAC opponent Bates College was led by four players with double digit point totals as the Bobcats defeated the visiting Monks, 84-69, on Tuesday night. SO Ray Eatmon (Huntington, NY) made 6 of 7 shots from the floor and led SJC with 12 points in the losing effort. The Monks are currently 8-8 on the season and 6-3 in GNAC play. Bates improves to 11-5 with the victory.

Bates College, the #2 ranked team in the State of Maine according to the latest MMBCWA coaches poll, led by 6 points going into the break, 40-34. The Monks, tied for 5th in the same poll, made it a two-possesion game after going on a 10-2 run late in the first half to draw within two points, 36-34, with 45 tics on the clock. SO Alberto Rue (Jamaica Plain, MA) and FY Eric Friend (Portland, ME) each hit 3-pointers on consecutive SJC possessions and the Monks converted four free throw attempts to account for the 10 points.

St. Joe's forced the Bobcats to make four turnovers in the opening minutes of the second half and converted on three layups to make reduce the Bates lead to two points, 42-40, 2 minutes into the latter half. Bates rallied back and connected on 6-7 shot attempts to account for a 13-0 run in the next four minutes. The offensive surge proved too much to overcome for the Royal Blue as the Bobcat lead didn't fall below 10 points for the remainder of the game.

The Bobcat shooters connected on 62.1% (18-29) of their shot attempts, 5-9 3-point shots, in the second half. The Royal Blue countered with a respectable percenage of their own, 50% (15-30), but made only 1 of 8 three-point attempts in the second stanza.

For the Bobcats, FY Brian Ellis netted 20 points, SO Chris Wilson had 17 points, SO Jimmy O'Keefe scored 10 points and grabbed 9 boards and JR Scott Place added 10 points off the bench.

Monks freshman forward Chris Davis (New York, NY) tallied 11 points, 4 rebounds, 2 blocks and a steal in the non-conference matchup. Alberto Rue scored 10 points, all in the first half, and made 2-3 shots from beyond the arc. JR Scot Vachon (Schenectady, NY) added 8 points and 5 assists and JR Elbie Murphy (Loudonville, NY) grabbed 7 boards and 4 steals and also dished out 5 assists in the loss.

St. Joe's swings back into action on Thursday, 1/31 at 7:30 PM when the team plays host to GNAC counterpart Rivier College.


St. Joseph's vs Bates College
1/29/08 7 pm at Lewiston, Maine

BATES COLLEGE 84, ST. JOSEPH'S 69
ST. JOSEPH'S (8-8)
Raymond Eatmon 6-7 0-0 12; Chris Davis 4-10 2-4 11; Alberto Rue 4-7 0-0 10;
Scot Vachon 3-5 2-4 8; Alonso Davis 3-5 2-3 8; Eric Friend 2-6 0-0 5; Elbie
Murphy 0-9 4-6 4; Mitch Ouellet 2-4 0-0 4; R.J. Mattison 2-4 0-0 4; Rashon
Jones 1-3 0-0 2; T.J. Tandberg 0-1 1-2 1; Tyler Kelley 0-1 0-0 0; Anthony
Savino 0-0 0-0 0; Jay Tutwiler 0-0 0-0 0; Bobby Russo 0-1 0-0 0. Totals
27-63 11-19 69.

BATES COLLEGE (11-5)
Brian Ellis 8-13 2-2 20; Chris Wilson 7-16 0-0 17; Scott Place 4-7 0-0 10;
Jimmy O'Keefe 4-8 2-2 10; Bryan Wholey 4-12 0-0 9; Alex Gallant 3-3 1-2 7;
Sean Wirth 1-2 2-2 4; Pat Halloran 1-7 0-0 3; BJ Dunne 1-2 0-1 2; Ben Thayer
0-0 2-2 2; Marshall Hatch 0-1 0-0 0; Elliot Foster 0-0 0-0 0; David Curley
0-0 0-0 0; Neil Creahan 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 33-71 9-11 84.

St. Joseph's.................. 34 35 - 69
Bates College................. 40 44 - 84

3-point goals-
St. Joseph's 4-17 (Alberto Rue 2-3; Eric Friend 1-2; Chris Davis 1-2; Elbie Murphy 0-6; Mitch Ouellet 0-2; Tyler Kelley 0-1; Bobby
Russo 0-1)

Bates College 9-23 (Chris Wilson 3-6; Scott Place 2-4; Brian Ellis 2-3; Pat Halloran 1-6; Bryan Wholey 1-4)

Fouled out-
St. Joseph's-None
Bates College-None

Rebounds-
St. Joseph's 35 (Elbie Murphy 7)
Bates College 44 (Jimmy O'Keefe 9)

Assists-
St. Joseph's 18 (Scot Vachon 5; Elbie Murphy 5)
Bates College 18 (Bryan Wholey 8)

Total fouls-
St. Joseph's 15
Bates College 15

A-450