STANDISH, ME - Saint Joseph's (12-6, 8-4 GNAC) outlasted Lasell College (3-16, 2-10 GNAC), 53-46, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball contest at the Harold Alfond Center on Saturday afternoon.
The Monks, who led by a 27-20 score at intermission, held the lead for the duration but was unable to pull away from the visiting Lasers, who managed to maintain a single-digit deficit for all but a pair of Saint Joseph's possessions in the second half.
Just when it appeared the Monks would finally put the game to rest by way of solid free throw shooting in the closing minutes, the Lasers countered with three-pointers on consecutive trips down the floor, the latter long ball coming from junior Brock Walters (Jacksonville, Fla.) who hit a deep three to make it a 52-46 game with 35 seconds remaining in regulation. Fortunately for Saint Joseph's, the bucket would be the Lasers' last as freshman guard Jerome Diggs (Centerville, Va.) proceeded to make his fourth freebie of the afternoon five seconds later to account for the 53-46 final.
The Monks were able to overcome a daunting 47-23 rebounding discrepancy with the help of 19 points off 20 Lasell turnovers while committing just nine miscues in the important conference win. The Lasers out-rebounded Saint Joseph's by a 16-2 margin on the offensive glass and held 13-2 and 22-20 advantages in second chance points and points in the paint, respectively, in a losing effort.
Neither team was able to find a groove offensively, as Saint Joseph's shot 36.7% (18-49) from the floor and 26.3% (5-19) from three-point land and Lasell countered with a 33.3% (18-54) effort from the field and a 26.1% (6-23) bid from downtown on the afternoon. Free throw shooting was also off the mark, as the Monks went 12-18 (66.7%) from the line and the Lasers made just four of eight shots from the charity stripe.
Sophomore forward Zach Blodgett (Glenburn, Maine) paced the Monks with nine points while Diggs, Steve Simonds (Steep Falls, Maine) and Julio Vazquez (Waterbury, Conn.) netted eight apiece and Matthew Medeiros (Westport, Mass.) posted seven points and five rebounds in the victory. Junior James Philbrook (Auburn, Maine) pulled down a team-high six rebounds and junior Krubiel Workie (Denver, Colo.) chipped in three assists for the hosts.
Today's game marks the first occurrence in which the SJC men's basketball team failed to produce a double-digit scorer over the last 14 seasons, according to records available to the Saint Joseph's Sports Information Office.
Lasell freshman forward Logan Liberty (Duxbury, Vt.) registered a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds and sophomore forward Frank Apisa (Branchburgh, N.J.) added 10 points and six boards in a losing effort. Walters contributed nine points off a 3-6 three-point shooting effort and sophomore point guard Jeremy Daniel (Bridgeport, Conn.) chipped in 10 rebounds and five assists for the visitors.
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 8-6 in the history of the series with Lasell College and has now defeated the Lasers in five straight meetings dating back to the 2010-11 campaign. The 99 combined points put up by the conference counterparts in this afternoon's contest is by far the fewest tallied in the 14 meetings between the teams. Prior to today, the fewest points Saint Joseph's had scored versus Lasell was 60 (12/13/08) and the lowest score put up by the Lasers against the Monks was 63 points (12/8/11).
Today, coaching staffs for both programs wore sneakers with their typical gameday attire of suits and ties in support of a worthy cause. Suits and Sneakers weekend is an annual event coordinated by the Coaches vs. Cancer program, a nationwide collaboration between the American Cancer Society and the National Association of Basketball Coaches. The Coaches vs. Cancer program empowers basketball and other athletic coaches to save lives from cancer by leveraging their community leadership to raise awareness and funds for the American Cancer Society. To learn more, visit www.nabc.org.
Up next for the Monks is a trip to Mount Ida College on Monday for a 6:00 PM tip-off. Lasell returns to action on Tuesday with a home contest versus Norwich University on Tuesday at 7:00 PM.
Saint Joseph's College, founded in 1912 by the Sisters of Mercy, celebrates its Centennial year in 2012 with a theme of "Realize the Promise" – honoring our commitment to educating well-rounded graduates who combine career focus with classic liberal arts studies. A Private, Catholic, primarily residential, coeducational liberal arts institution, Saint Joseph's welcomes students of all ages and all faiths. The campus, located 18 miles northwest of Portland and just two hours from Boston, encompasses 350 acres along the shore of beautiful Sebago Lake in Standish, Maine. Enrollment ranges between 1,000 and 1,100 students annually. Saint Joseph's offers challenging academic programs in the liberal arts and sciences, education, nursing and business fields in a value-centered environment.
