NEWTON, MA - Ray Eatmon ‘10 (Huntington, NY) posted his second-consecutive double-double with 16 points and 10 boards and Zach O'Brien ‘12 (Schenectady, NY) netted 16 points to help Saint Joseph's (10-4, 4-3 GNAC) handle Mount Ida College (6-6, 0-5), 78-66, on Saturday afternoon. Tyler Kelley ‘11 (Saco, ME) and Elbie Murphy ‘09 (Loudonville, NY) both added 12 points apiece in the conference victory. Mustangs guard Darren Martinez '10 (Mattapan, MA) scored a game-high 22 points in the loss.

Saint Joseph's held the lead for 38 of 40 minutes and held a decided advantage in both free throws made (22) and attempted (29) for a solid 75.9% success rate in the GNAC triumph. Mount Ida made it to the line just nine times and converted six attempts in the contest. The game marks the fourth time this season the Monks have allowed less than 10 free throw attempts to an opponent.

Bolstered by a 5-6 effort from the free-throw line and a three-pointer from Kelley, the Monks jumped out to a 12-2 lead just four minutes into the contest.

Saint Joseph's led by 12, 23-11, after Eatmon sank a pair of freebies with 8:18 to go before the break. In the following three minutes, the Mustangs mustered an 11-5 surge, capped by a Gino Dipietro ‘09 (Westbrook, ME) three, to cut the SJC lead to 28-22 with an even five minutes remaining in the first.

Sparked by a Kelley three-pointer on their next possession, the Monks countered by outscoring Mount Ida 10-4 in the closing minutes to take a 38-26 cushion into intermission.

The Mustangs posted a 15-6 run to kick off the second half and cut the SJC lead to three points, 44-41, after Martinez sank a three at the 15:44 mark. With six points from Eatmon, St. Joe's blanked Mount Ida, 8-0, in the following two minutes to stake an 11-point lead with 13:26 to play.

St. Joe's went on to maintain at least a six-point advantage for the remainder of the contest and cruised to a 78-66 win over Mount Ida, which has lost four straight GNAC games in 2009.

Aside from his 16 points, O'Brien added seven boards and five assists and went 5-6 from the free-throw line. Murphy, who is now the 13th player in SJC history to crack the 1,300 point barrier, dealt out eight helpers in the win. Chris Davis ‘11 (New York, NY) netted eight points and five boards and Scot Vachon ‘09 (Schenectady, NY) scored seven points for Saint Joseph's.

For the Mustangs, Matt Bennett ‘09 (Rochester, NH) notched a double-double with 17 points and 13 caroms while Johrone Bunch ‘12 (Meriden, CT) added nine points and four rebounds.

Saint Joseph's will play host to GNAC foe Emmanuel College on Monday, January 19th at 3:00 PM while Mount Ida will play at Lasell College on Monday at 7:00 PM.


Newspaper Box Score
St. Joseph's (Me.) vs Mount Ida College
1/17/09 3:00 pm at Newton, Massachusetts
At Newton, Massachusetts
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) 78, MOUNT IDA COLLEGE 66
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) (10-4, 4-3 GNAC)
Ray Eatmon 5-8 6-7 16; Zach O'Brien 5-9 5-6 16; Elbie Murphy 3-7 5-6 12;
Tyler Kelley 5-11 0-0 12; Chris Davis 3-12 2-4 8; Scot Vachon 2-4 3-4 7;
Alonso Davis 1-2 1-2 3; Chris Petzy 1-1 0-0 2; Mitch Ouellet 1-5 0-0 2;
Anthony Savino 0-1 0-0 0; Alberto Rue 0-2 0-0 0; R. J. Mattison 0-0 0-0 0.
Totals 26-62 22-29 78.
MOUNT IDA COLLEGE (6-6, 0-5 GNAC)
Darren Martinez 8-11 4-6 22; Matt Bennett 8-17 0-0 17; Johrone Bunch 4-18
0-0 9; Otis Thompson 3-5 2-3 8; Michael Dunham 1-5 0-0 3; Gino Dipietro 1-5
0-0 3; Travis Hillery 1-2 0-0 2; Jeff McNair 1-3 0-0 2; Isiah Benjamin 0-10
0-0 0; Brian Hapgood 0-0 0-0 0; Teddy Louis 0-1 0-0 0; Joseph Cabral 0-1 0-0
0. Totals 27-78 6-9 66.
St. Joseph's (Me.)............ 38 40 - 78
Mount Ida College............. 26 40 - 66
3-point goals--St. Joseph's (Me.) 4-13 (Tyler Kelley 2-4; Elbie Murphy 1-1;
Zach O'Brien 1-2; Mitch Ouellet 0-2; Alberto Rue 0-2; Chris Davis 0-2),
Mount Ida College 6-23 (Darren Martinez 2-2; Gino Dipietro 1-2; Matt Bennett
1-4; Michael Dunham 1-4; Johrone Bunch 1-6; Isiah Benjamin 0-5). Fouled
out--St. Joseph's (Me.)-None, Mount Ida College-None. Rebounds--St. Joseph's
(Me.) 48 (Ray Eatmon 10), Mount Ida College 44 (Matt Bennett 13).
Assists--St. Joseph's (Me.) 18 (Elbie Murphy 8), Mount Ida College 12
(Johrone Bunch 4). Total fouls--St. Joseph's (Me.) 13, Mount Ida College 20.
Technical fouls--St. Joseph's (Me.)-None, Mount Ida College-None. A-500