Courtesy of Johnson and Wales Sports Information
Providence, R.I. -Junior Elbie Murphy (Loudonville, N.Y.) scored a team high 19 points and added four steals to lead St. Joseph's of Maine to a 71-68 victory against Johnson & Wales in the quarterfinals of the Great Athletic Conference men's basketball championship at the Harborside Recreation Center on Tuesday evening.

Sophomore Raymond Eatmon (Huntington, N.Y.) added 11 points, four rebounds and three assists and sophomore Alonso Davis (Richmond, VA) tallied 9 points and 6 boards in the contest. FY Tyler Kelley (Saco, ME) and sophomore Alberto Rue (Jamaica Plain, Mass.) each netted 8 points in the win for St. Joseph's.

Senior Japhet Kerr (Mt. Kisco, N.Y.) led the way for Johnson & Wales with 22 points and three steals while Greg Samuels (Philadelphia, Pa.) added a double-double with 19 points and 14 rebounds in the setback for the Wildcats.

The two teams traded baskets early with the score tied 11-11 with 14:17 left in the first half. St. Joseph's then used a 5-0 run, capped by a layup by Murphy to take the 16-11 advantage with 12:23 left. Johnson & Wales then used a run of their own and took a 23-18 lead on a three pointer by Kerr with 10:00 on the clock. The Wildcats led by as many as seven points late in the first half and held a 32-25 lead after a three pointer by sophomore Darren Faust (Queens, N.Y.) with 5:50 remaining in the stanza. St. Joseph's battled back, however and trailed just 41-40 heading into the locker room at halftime. Both teams shot well from the field in the first half with St. Joseph's hitting 60% of their shots while JWU hit on 50% from the field.

Johnson & Wales led by as many as five early in the second half when a layup by senior Tirone McCray (Brockton, Mass.) gave the team a 51-46 lead with 13:40 left on the clock. St. Joseph's then used a 19-4 run, capped by a three pointer by sophomore Alberto Rue with 5:56 remaining in the contest. The visiting Monks led by 10 (69-59) with 2:28 left before Johnson & Wales used a 9-1 run, including a pair of free throws by Kerr to make the score 70-68 with :24 left. After Murphy hit the first of two free throws, he missed the second one with eight seconds left to give the Wildcats had one last shot. It was not enough though as McCray's three-pointer at the buzzer hit the rim to give St. Joseph's the 71-68 victory.

With the win, St. Joseph's is now 14-12 while Johnson & Wales falls to 15-11. The Monks will return to action on Thursday, February 28th when they travel to Emerson for a semifinal match up in the GNAC tournament.


St. Joseph's (Me.) vs Johnson & Wales
02/26/08 7:30 p.m. at Providence, R.I. (Harborside RAC)

ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) 71, JOHNSON & WALES 68

ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) (14-12)
Elbie Murphy 7-10 4-9 19; Raymond Eatmon 5-9 1-3 11; Alonso Davis 4-7 1-1 9;
Alberto Rue 3-6 1-2 8; Tyler Kelley 3-3 0-0 8; Eric Friend 3-6 0-0 7; Mitch
Ouellet 2-4 1-2 5; Scot Vachon 0-3 4-4 4; Chris Davis 0-4 0-0 0; Rashon
Jones 0-0 0-0 0; T.J. Tandberg 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-52 12-21 71.

JOHNSON & WALES (15-11)
Japhet Kerr 6-13 7-11 22; Greg Samuels 7-12 2-2 19; Darren Faust 6-11 2-2
16; Tirone McCray 2-9 2-4 6; Richard DiLascio 1-1 0-0 3; Cornejo Rogers 1-2
0-0 2; Charlie Ware 0-0 0-0 0; Xavier Lewis 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-48 13-19
68.

St. Joseph's (Me.)............ 40 31 - 71
Johnson & Wales............... 41 27 - 68

3-point goals-
St. Joseph's (Me.) 5-9 (Tyler Kelley 2-2; Alberto Rue 1-3; Eric Friend 1-2; Elbie Murphy 1-2)
Johnson & Wales 9-17 (Japhet Kerr 3-6; Greg Samuels 3-6; Darren Faust 2-3; Richard DiLascio 1-1; Tirone McCray 0-1)

Fouled out--St. Joseph's (Me.)-None, Johnson & Wales-Greg Samuels.

Rebounds-
St. Joseph's (Me.) 28 (Alonso Davis 6)
Johnson & Wales 30 (Greg Samuels 14)

Assists-
St. Joseph's (Me.) 15 (Scot Vachon 6)
Johnson & Wales 10 (Japhet Kerr 3; Darren Faust 3)

Total fouls-St. Joseph's (Me.) 16, Johnson & Wales 19.

A-126