STANDISH, ME - Third-seeded Saint Joseph's College defeated #4
Emmanuel College in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference Men's
Basketball Championship on Saturday, 74-72 in overtime, and will
play in the NCAA DIII Tournament for the first time since 2003.
Senior point guard Scot Vachon
(Schenectady, NY/Albany Academy) had eight points, seven rebounds
and five assists in the title-clinching contest and received
Tournament Most Valuable Player honors.
Per GNAC weekly honor guidelines, Vachon also
receives the Player of the Week award for the reporting period
ending March 1st. The honor is the first of the season for the
senior and also the first of his career.
Vachon, a three-year starter for Head Coach
Rob Sanicola ‘99, averaged 10.3 points, 5.0
rebounds and 4.0 assists while playing 32 minutes per game for the
Monks in a trifecta of conference playoff contests. His defensive
effort in the tourney was equally as important as his offensive
numbers, as Vachon played shutdown defense against
some of the best guards in the conference during the SJC playoff
run.
Through 26 games this season, Vachon ranks second
in the GNAC in assist/turnover ratio (110/56, 2.0) as well as
fourth in both assists (4.8) and steals (1.9) per game.
The senior ball-handler currently is in 10th place in the SJC
career record book with 361 helpers and 11th with a 3.8 APG
average.
The NCAA Tournament pairings were announced on Monday morning, and
St. Joe's will play at Bridgewater State College (20-6, 10-2
MASCAC) in the opening round on Thursday, March 5th at 7:00 PM.