Men's Basketball

Sanicola Hits Century Mark in GNAC Clincher

Sanicola Hits Century Mark in GNAC Clincher
Posted: Mar 02, 2009

STANDISH, ME - Last week certainly was a memorable one for Saint Joseph's Men's Basketball Head Coach Rob Sanicola ‘99.

His Monks advanced to the semi-final round of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Tournament by defeating Rivier College on Tuesday and, because seventh-seed Albertus Magnus upset #2 Emerson, the team learned the Alfond would host the Falcons on Thursday. Prior to the game on Thursday, the GNAC announced its All-Conference awards and Sanicola received Coach of the Year honors. It was also announced that a pair of his players, Ray Eatmon ‘10 (Huntington, NY) and Elbie Murphy ‘09 (Loudonville, NY), were listed on the first and second teams, respectively.

St. Joe's handled Albertus in the semis and, approximately an hour after the game ended, the Monks received word that another upset would play into their favor. Fourth-seeded Emmanuel College tipped #1 Lasell College in double-overtime, which meant Saint Joseph's, as the highest remaining seed, would host the GNAC Championship against the Saints.

One would be hard-pressed to find a better setting for a title bout than the Monks' home court, the Harold Alfond Center. In front of a near-capacity crowd, St. Joe's and Emmanuel dueled into an extra frame, where the Royal Blue won in dramatic fashion, as Murphy made a layup with two seconds left and the Saints' last hurrah fell short.

The Monks had won their first GNAC championship in the team's second year in the conference and were headed to the NCAA's for the second time in program history. Perhaps lost in the excitement, however, was the fact that Sanicola had just notched his 100th career victory.

Sanicola ranks second in team history with an even 100 wins, but has a ways to go to become the winningest SJC skipper. Former Head Coach Rick Simonds owns the honor, as he amassed 466 victories in 23 seasons at St. Joe's.

Sanicola played for Coach Simonds for four years, and later served as his assistant for four seasons before being named the head coach in the fall of 2003. Sanicola has been a part of 264 wins and the program has posted an impressive .689 (264-119) winning percentage in his fourteen years as a Monks' player, assistant and head coach.

The "Sanicola 100"

Win # DATE SITE OPPONENT W/L SCORE
1 Nov. 25 2003 A Maine-Farmington W 79 67
2 Dec. 8 2003 H Thomas W 84 68
3 Dec. 29 2003 N Castleton State W 90 73
4 Jan. 3 2004 N Thomas W 94 65
5 Jan. 13 2004 H Daniel Webster W 85 61
6 Jan. 22 2004 H Univ. New England W 73 63
7 Feb. 14 2004 A Husson W 70 65
8 Feb. 21 2004 H Maine-Presque Isle W 90 84
9 Feb. 22 2004 H Maine-Fort Kent W 76 73
10 Nov. 20 2004 N Newbury W 65 44
11 Nov. 30 2004 H Lyndon State W 77 68
12 Dec. 7 2004 H Framingham State W 84 76
13 Dec. 11 2004 A Maine-Fort Kent W 96 91
14 Dec. 12 2004 A Maine-Presque Isle W 74 59
15 Jan. 3 2005 N Southern Maine W 83 78
16 Jan. 11 2005 A Daniel Webster W 87 83
17 Jan. 29 2005 A Maine Maritime W 80 69
18 Feb. 12 2005 H Green Mountain W 79 73
19 Feb. 13 2005 H Maine Maritime W 80 72
20 Feb. 16 2005 H Thomas W 81 63
21 Feb. 19 2005 H Maine-Presque Isle W 73 61
22 Feb. 20 2005 H Maine-Fort Kent W 69 60
23 Feb. 22 2005 A Newbury W 68 56
24 Feb. 23 2005 A Univ. New England W 86 75
25 Nov. 19 2005 N Oberlin W 66 54
26 Dec. 3 2005 H Maine-Machias W 77 64
27 Dec. 7 2005 A Framingham State W 80 69
28 Dec. 11 2005 A Thomas W 83 70
29 Dec. 29 2005 N Southern Maine W 63 62
30 Jan. 4 2006 A UC-Santa Cruz W 76 67
31 Jan. 8 2006 N Colorado College W 67 59
32 Jan. 15 2006 H Maine Maritime W 58 55
33 Jan. 21 2006 A Newbury W 76 65
34 Jan. 25 2006 H Thomas W 99 91
35 Jan. 28 2006 A Maine-Presque Isle W 79 57
36 Jan. 29 2006 A Maine-Fort Kent W 72 56
37 Feb. 6 2006 A Maine-Farmington W 72 64
38 Feb. 9 2006 H Univ. of New England W 57 46
39 Feb. 12 2006 H Husson W 67 60
40 Feb. 18 2006 H Maine-Fort Kent W 75 69
41 Feb. 19 2006 H Maine-Presque Isle W 71 34
42 Feb. 21 2006 H Newbury W 63 60
43 Feb. 24 2006 N Newbury W 67 65
44 Nov. 18 2006 N Maine-Machias W 82 69
45 Nov. 21 2006 H Maine-Farmington W 64 41
46 Dec. 2 2006 A Maine-Presque Isle W 87 60
47 Dec. 3 2006 A Maine-Fort Kent W 71 42
48 Dec. 6 2006 H Framingham State W 82 69
49 Dec. 29 2006 N Husson W 73 53
50 Jan. 3 2007 A York W 71 69
51 Jan. 5 2007 A Briarcliffe W 84 51
52 Jan. 9 2007 A Thomas W 85 66
53 Jan. 20 2007 A Maine Maritime W 84 60
54 Jan. 24 2007 H Lyndon State W 89 62
55 Jan. 30 2007 A Southern Maine W 80 58
56 Feb. 3 2007 H Thomas W 91 41
57 Feb. 6 2007 A Maine-Machias W 72 67
58 Feb. 8 2007 A Univ. New England W 81 64
59 Feb. 10 2007 H Newbury W 82 65
60 Feb. 17 2007 H Maine-Fort Kent W 99 82
61 Feb. 18 2007 H Maine-Presque Isle W 90 43
62 Feb. 23 2007 N Mitchell W 83 71
63 Feb. 24 2007 N Lincoln W 89 80
64 Feb. 28 2007 N Roger Williams W 70 65
65 Mar. 3 2007 N Curry W 76 67
66 Nov. 28 2007 H Univ. New England W 76 66
67 Dec. 8 2007 H Daniel Webster W 112 102
68 Jan. 3 2008 A Colby W 85 83
69 Jan. 8 2008 A Norwich W 86 82
70 Jan. 10 2008 H Albertus Magnus W 85 63
71 Jan. 15 2008 A Suffolk W 93 73
72 Jan. 19 2008 H Mount Ida W 103 50
73 Jan. 26 2008 A Albertus Magnus W 85 71
74 Jan. 31 2008 H Rivier W 76 75
75 Feb. 4 2008 H Suffolk W 84 71
76 Feb. 12 2008 A Daniel Webster W 89 78
77 Feb. 19 2008 A Mount Ida W 79 70
78 Feb. 23 2008 H Emmanuel W 69 68
79 Feb. 26 2008 A Johnson & Wales W 71 68
80 Nov. 18 2008 A Maine Maritime W 83 57
81 Nov. 22 2008 A Univ. of New England W 83 81
82 Nov. 30 2008 A Southern Maine W 72 55
83 Dec. 3 2008 H Norwich W 58 52
84 Dec. 6 2008 H Johnson & Wales W 71 61
85 Dec. 9 2008 A Husson W 90 65
86 Dec. 16 2008 H Bates W 68 65
87 Jan. 3 2009 H Bowdoin W 74 70
88 Jan. 7 2009 A Suffolk W 88 76
89 Jan. 17 2009 A Mount Ida W 78 66
90 Jan. 19 2009 H Emmanuel W 73 65
91 Jan. 24 2009 H Albertus Magnus W 84 73
92 Jan. 29 2009 A Norwich W 77 55
93 Feb. 5 2009 H Suffolk W 86 51
94 Feb. 7 2009 H Mount Ida W 70 58
95 Feb. 10 2009 A Albertus Magnus W 87 86
96 Feb. 17 2009 A Emmanuel W 82 75
97 Feb. 21 2009 H Lasell W 81 74
98 Feb. 24 2009 H Rivier W 85 67
99 Feb. 26 2009 H Albertus Magnus W 75 64
100 Feb. 28 2009 H Emmanuel W 74 72

 

The Official Athletics Site of Saint Joseph's College of Maine