NEWTON, MA - Saint Joseph's (11-4, 6-2 GNAC) halted a two-game skid with a 71-56 victory over Mount Ida (10-5, 5-3 GNAC) on Saturday afternoon. Tyler Kelley '11 (Saco, ME) netted 16 and Ray Eatmon '10 (Huntington, NY) notched a double-double with 15 points and 15 caroms, and added 6 assists, in the Monks' triumph.

Rashon Jones '11 (Bridgeport, CT) tallied 14 points and 9 boards, while Zach O'Brien '12 (Schenectady, NY) chipped in with 11 points, 6 dimes and 5 rebounds for St. Joe's. Chris Petzy '12 (Kensington, NH) rounded out the Monks' top scorers with 9 points.

The Mustangs were led by Darren Martinez, who scored 13 and Keith Jones with 11 points. Joseph Cabral added 6 points and brought down a team-high 9 rebounds in the losing effort.

The Monks held a lead for the majority of play, although the Mustangs fought back on several occasions and gained a slim lead early in the second half. St. Joe's got to the line just five times, with three points to show for the attempts, and lost the turnover battle, 18-9, but Mount Ida shot just 22.2% (6-27) from three-point distance and 29.9% (20-67) overall in the loss.

The only lead the hosts would gain in the opening period occurred on the Mustangs' first possession when Isiah Benjamin made a jump shot 21 seconds in. The Monks proceeded to score six unanswered points as part of an 11-4 run, which resulted in a 13-6 St. Joe's lead after 4:52 of play.

A clash of the surges followed, although the Monks would hold on to the lead for the remainder of the first half. Mount Ida kept pace with the help of a 15-9 run, which was capped by a game-tying Bruce Cary shot at the 8:17 mark.  

Over the next five minutes St. Joe's posted an 11-3 outburst, with Kelley netting 7 points to help the Monks build a 33-25 lead. The final outburst of the opening stanza was made by the hosts, as the Mustangs managed to cut the deficit to two points, 33-31, after putting up a 6-0 run going into the break.

The second half began in a similar manner to the first, as Benjamin made a shot, this time a three-pointer, to start the scoring and provide the Mustangs with their only lead of the stanza at the 18:26 mark.

Three-pointers were made by Jones and Kelley, respectively, on the next two Monk possessions and a layup by Eatmon with 14:52 left closed out a 12-2 run and gave St. Joe's a 46-36 advantage.

The Mustangs were able to keep the game within reach for the next five minutes of play, but threes by Petzy and Jones on consecutive trips down the floor put the Royal Blue up by double digits to stay.

St. Joe's shot 50.8% (30-59) overall, 50% (8-16) from three-point range, and 60% (3-5) from the line, while Mount Ida shot 29.9% (20-67) from the field, 22.2% (6-27) from beyond the arc and 76.9% (10-13) from the FT line. The Monks held a 47-31 advantage on the boards, while the Mustangs forced 18 SJC turnovers and collected 12 steals in the losing effort.

For St. Joe's, the free throws made and free throws attempted both qualify as season-lows. The Monks have recorded at least a 50% success rate from the floor nine times this year with an 8-1 record to show for it. Ironically, the Monks' only loss while making at least half of their shots came to Bates, when the Royal Blue notched their best mark (60%, 33-55) of the year.

Both teams face off against GNAC rivals on the road on Tuesday, as Saint Joseph's will play at Rivier at 7:00 PM, while Mount Ida will travel across town to play Lasell at 8:00 PM.

Newspaper Box Score
St. Joseph's College vs Mount Ida College Mustangs
1/23/10 1:00 p.m. at Newton, Massachusetts
At Newton, Massachusetts
ST. JOSEPH'S COLLEGE 71, MOUNT IDA COLLEGE MUSTANGS 56
ST. JOSEPH'S COLLEGE (11-4, 6-2 GNAC)
Tyler Kelley 6-12 0-0 16; Raymond Eatmon 7-8 1-2 15; Rashon Jones 6-9 0-0
14; Zach O'Brien 5-9 0-0 11; Christopher Petzy 4-10 0-0 9; Anthony Savino
1-3 2-3 4; Julio Vazquez 1-4 0-0 2; Craig Merrick 0-0 0-0 0; Thomas Ray 0-1
0-0 0; Alberto Rue 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 30-59 3-5 71.
MOUNT IDA COLLEGE MUSTANGS (10-5, 5-3 GNAC)
Darren Martinez 2-7 8-8 13; Keith Jones 4-16 1-1 11; John Figueroa 3-11 0-0
7; Isiah Benjamin 3-12 0-2 7; Joseph Cabral 3-8 0-0 6; Travis Hillery 2-4
1-2 5; Bruce Cary 2-4 0-0 4; Nick Lynch 1-4 0-0 3; Teddy Louis 0-1 0-0 0.
Totals 20-67 10-13 56.
St. Joseph's College..........   33   38  -   71
Mount Ida College Mustangs....   31   25  -   56
3-point goals--St. Joseph's College 8-16 (Tyler Kelley 4-6; Rashon Jones
2-4; Zach O'Brien 1-2; Christopher Petzy 1-3; Alberto Rue 0-1), Mount Ida
College Mustangs 6-27 (Keith Jones 2-7; John Figueroa 1-5; Nick Lynch 1-3;
Darren Martinez 1-2; Isiah Benjamin 1-7; Joseph Cabral 0-3). Fouled out--St.
Joseph's College-None, Mount Ida College Mustangs-None. Rebounds--St.
Joseph's College 47 (Raymond Eatmon 15), Mount Ida College Mustangs 31
(Joseph Cabral 9). Assists--St. Joseph's College 18 (Raymond Eatmon 6; Zach
O'Brien 6), Mount Ida College Mustangs 10 (Isiah Benjamin 4). Total
fouls--St. Joseph's College 13, Mount Ida College Mustangs 10. Technical
fouls--St. Joseph's College-None, Mount Ida College Mustangs-None. A-500