STANDISH, ME - Junior guard Tyler Kelley (Saco, ME) scored nine of the Monks' last 13 points over the final four minutes of play to help propel Saint Joseph's (17-5, 12-3 GNAC) past GNAC-rival Johnson & Wales (10-12, 7-8 GNAC), 76-68, at the Alfond Center on Tuesday evening.
Six SJC players managed to score at least 10 points in the victory, with Chris Petzy '12 (Kensington, NH) leading the charge with 14. Kelley, Ray Eatmon '10 (Huntington, NY) and Zach O'Brien '12 (Schenectady, NY) all poured in 13 points, while Alberto Rue '10 (Jamaica Plain, MA) added 10 and Rashon Jones '11 (Bridgeport, CT) chipped in with 10 in the Royal Blue victory.
For the Wildcats, Lamonte Thomas '12 (Providence, RI) netted a game-high 30 points off an 11-22 shooting effort, while Calvin Jones '12 (Providence, RI) added 13 and Louis Ferreras '11 (Providence, RI) contributed 10 points in the losing effort.
The game was fast-paced and well played, as the lead swapped hands 10 times and the score stood at a stalemate on six occasions. The two-possession scenario was in place for the vast majority of the game, as the largest lead attained by either team was eight points (achieved twice, both by the Monks). In the end, three-point shooting proved to be the difference, as the Monks made 50% (8-16) of their shots from downtown compared to the 20% (4-20) effort posted by the Wildcats.
Saint Joseph's jumped out to a 10-4 lead after kicking off the game with threes from Rue and Petzy and a layup by Kelley with 15:18 remaining in the opening half. JWU quickly withered the SJC lead down to nothing with an 8-2 surge to tie the game at 12-apiece just three minutes later.
O'Brien drove the lane for a lay-in at the 11:23 mark to put the Royal Blue up by five, 17-12, but back-to-back buckets by JWU forward James Folk '12 (Salem, NH) and layup from Thomas gave the visitors an 18-17 edge just over a minute later. St. Joe's regained the lead on the next possession with a Kelley layup and managed to hold on to the advantage until the closing seconds of the first half, when Thomas converted a three-point play with 56 seconds left to give his Wildcats a 33-32 lead heading into the intermission.
Thomas led all scorers with 16 points in the first half, while O'Brien and Petzy both scored 7 points to pace the Monks. JWU shot 44.8% (13-29) from the field, while St. Joe's shot 38.2% (13-34) overall in the opening period.
Johnson & Wales led - by as much as five points on several occasions, shared the lead, or trailed by just one point for the first 14 minutes of the second stanza, but the Monks kept pace and were in position to come out on top with solid play in the final portion of the contest.
Although it may not have been the way Coach Sanicola scripted it, his Monks were able to accomplish just that with some impressive individual performances in the final stretch. Trailing 57-52 with 9:59 remaining, Jones put up nine straight points for the Royal Blue, with his final two, a pair of free-throws, tying the game at 59-59 with 6:12 to go. Rue made a nice mid-range jumper to provide St. Joe's with its first two-point lead since the first half and, on the next SJC drive, Eatmon maneuvered his way through traffic and dunked over Wildcats 6'8" center Paul Nicholson '10 (Halifax, NC) to extend the Monks' lead to 63-59.
Ferreras connected on a pair of free throws with 4:08 left, cutting the Wildcats' deficit to 63-61, but Kelley book-ended a trey by Matt Williams '13 (Mount Kisco, NY) with a pair of long balls of his own, the latter of which coming at the 2:58 mark to provide the hosts with a 69-65 advantage. A layup by O'Brien and two freebies by Rue offset buckets by Jones and Justin Adams '11 (Providence, RI) and a three-point play by Kelley with 54 ticks on the clock closed out the scoring with the Monks victorious, 76-68.
St. Joe's shot 45.3% (29-64) overall, 50% (8-16) from beyond the arc, and 76.9% (10-13) from the line while Johnson & Wales shot 42.9% (27-63) from the field, 20% (4-20) from three-point distance and 83.3% (10-12) from the charity stripe. The Monks held a 39-36 advantage on the glass in the triumph.
Saint Joseph's currently sits in second place in the GNAC standings and has three conference games remaining on the docket, including a 2:00 PM matchup against Lasell College (8-13, 6-8 GNAC) on Saturday.
Newspaper Box Score
Johnson & Wales vs St. Joseph's (Me.)
02/09/10 7:30 PM at Alfond Center, Standish, Maine
At Alfond Center, Standish, Maine
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) 76, JOHNSON & WALES 68
JOHNSON & WALES (10-12, 7-8 GNAC)
Lamonte Thomas 11-22 5-6 30; Calvin Jones 5-11 3-4 13; Louis
Ferreras 4-10
2-2 10; Paul Nicholson 2-3 0-0 4; James Folk 2-4 0-0 4; Justin
Adams 2-5 0-0
4; Matt Williams 1-8 0-0 3. Totals 27-63 10-12 68.
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) (17-5, 12-3 GNAC)
Christopher Petzy 6-11 0-0 14; Raymond Eatmon 6-10 1-3 13; Zach
O'Brien 6-12
0-1 13; Tyler Kelley 5-11 1-1 13; Alberto Rue 3-12 4-4 11; Rashon
Jones 3-5
2-2 10; Julio Vazquez 0-2 2-2 2; Thomas Ray 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 29-64
10-13
76.
Johnson & Wales............... 33
35 - 68
St. Joseph's (Me.)............ 32 44
- 76
3-point goals--Johnson & Wales 4-20 (Lamonte Thomas 3-9; Matt
Williams 1-3;
Louis Ferreras 0-1; James Folk 0-1; Justin Adams 0-3; Calvin Jones
0-3), St.
Joseph's (Me.) 8-16 (Tyler Kelley 2-4; Rashon Jones 2-2;
Christopher Petzy
2-4; Alberto Rue 1-4; Zach O'Brien 1-2). Fouled out--Johnson &
Wales-Lamonte
Thomas, St. Joseph's (Me.)-None. Rebounds--Johnson & Wales 36
(Paul
Nicholson 11), St. Joseph's (Me.) 39 (Raymond Eatmon 13).
Assists--Johnson &
Wales 15 (Calvin Jones 6), St. Joseph's (Me.) 18 (Raymond Eatmon
6). Total
fouls--Johnson & Wales 14, St. Joseph's (Me.) 9. Technical
fouls--Johnson &
Wales-None, St. Joseph's (Me.)-None. A-208