BIDDEFORD, ME - Ray Eatmon '10 (Huntington, NY) scored a career-high 31 points and Scot Vachon '09 (Schenectady, NY) hit a pair of free throws with :31 remaining to lift Saint Joseph's (2-0) over University of New England (1-2), 83-81, on Saturday afternoon. Chris Davis '11 (New York, NY) added 18 points in the back-and-forth affair that featured eight lead changes, with the final swing going in the Monks' favor.

Vachon's two free throws gave St. Joe's its first lead of the second half. The Nor'easters had three shots to tie or win the contest in the final 17 seconds but could not convert.

The Nor'easters led by seven (77-70) with 6:43 remaining before St. Joe's scored five unanswered points to close to within two (77-75). Davis hit consecutive lay-ups, then senior forward Elbie Murphy (Loudonville, NY) made one of two free throws at the 5:20 mark.

Both teams went back-and-forth over the next four minutes before the Monks drew even at 81-all on another lay-up by Davis with 1:18 on the clock.

UNE missed a three-pointer on its next possession and Murphy cleared the rebound. St. Joe's was patient on its ensuing possession, working the ball to Vachon, who was fouled driving to the basket, setting up the winning freebies.

Eatmon added a team-high seven rebounds and dished out five assists to go along with his 31 points, which came off a 13-16 effort from the field and a 5-7 performance from the line.

Davis came off the bench to hit 8 of 11 field goal attempts on his way to 18 points. Vachon scored eight points on perfect shooting (2 of 2 from the floor, 4 of 4 from the line) to go with a game-high nine assists. Tyler Kelley '11 (Saco, ME) chipped in with nine points and Murphy had eight points to go along with six boards and three steals. The senior now has 283 career steals and has passed SJC Hall of Famer Jeff Creech '86 for second place on the career leaders list. Murphy needs just five steals to pass leader Jamie Header '93.

Senior guard Jaykyri Simpson (East Cleburne, TX) led four UNE players in double figures with 16 points. First-year guard Victor Oruonyehu (Austin, TX) netted 15 points, while senior forward Johnnie Jefferson (Dallas, TX) and sophomore guard J.J. Roseman (Dallas, TX) added 11 apiece.

The first half featured six ties and seven lead changes. Jefferson and first-year guard Sean Caddigan (Bethel, ME) made 3-pointers in the final 1:58 to give the hosts a 41-37 lead heading to intermission.

St. Joe's helped its cause by making 19 of 27 (70.4 percent) tries from the floor in the second frame.

For the game, the Monks shot a robust 55.7 percent (34 of 61) and had 23 assists on their 34 field goals. The Nor'easters countered by making 14 of 31 three-point attempts.

St. Joe's plays its home-opener Tuesday when UMaine Farmington heads to Standish for a 7:00 PM contest. The Nor'easters host Bowdoin College that same evening at 7:30 PM.


St. Joseph's (Me.) vs Univ. of New England
11/22/08 2:00 p.m. at Biddeford, Maine - Campus Center

ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) 83, UNIV. OF NEW ENGLAND 81
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) ((2-0))
Ray Eatmon 13-16 5-7 31; Chris Davis 8-11 2-3 18; Tyler Kelley 4-10 0-1 9;
Scot Vachon 2-2 4-4 8; Elbie Murphy 3-12 1-2 8; Alberto Rue 2-3 1-1 5; Mitch
Ouellet 1-1 0-0 2; Zach O'Brien 1-4 0-0 2; Chris Petzy 0-1 0-0 0; Anthony
Savino 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 34-61 13-18 83.
UNIV. OF NEW ENGLAND ((1-2))
Jaykyri Simpson 6-11 3-4 16; Victor Oruonyehu 5-11 3-3 15; J.J. Roseman 3-6
2-2 11; Johnnie Jefferson 3-7 2-2 11; Sean Caddigan 3-5 0-0 9; Marchale
Robinson 3-10 0-0 8; Chas Rentrope 4-7 0-2 8; Quentin Thompson 0-6 3-4 3;
Anthony Johnson 0-1 0-0 0; Steve Belmonte 0-0 0-0 0; Ryan Knotek 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 27-65 13-17 81.
St. Joseph's (Me.)............ 37 46 - 83
Univ. of New England.......... 41 40 - 81
3-point goals--St. Joseph's (Me.) 2-11 (Tyler Kelley 1-5; Elbie Murphy 1-3;
Alberto Rue 0-1; Zach O'Brien 0-1; Chris Petzy 0-1), Univ. of New England
14-31 (J.J. Roseman 3-4; Johnnie Jefferson 3-4; Sean Caddigan 3-5; Marchale
Robinson 2-6; Victor Oruonyehu 2-8; Jaykyri Simpson 1-2; Quentin Thompson
0-2). Fouled out--St. Joseph's (Me.)-None, Univ. of New England-None.
Rebounds--St. Joseph's (Me.) 34 (Ray Eatmon 7), Univ. of New England 35
(Quentin Thompson 8). Assists--St. Joseph's (Me.) 23 (Scot Vachon 9), Univ.
of New England 17 (Jaykyri Simpson 4; Marchale Robinson 4). Total fouls--St.
Joseph's (Me.) 14, Univ. of New England 17. Technical fouls--St. Joseph's
(Me.)-Scot Vachon, Univ. of New England-None. A-393

THANKS IN PART TO UNE SPORTS INFORMATION