STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (1-2) outscored Maine-Farmington (0-3) by a 28-14 margin in the second half en route to securing a 54-34 win in a non-conference men's basketball game at the Harold Alfond Center on Monday night. Senior guard Steve Simonds (Steep Falls, Maine) recorded the third double-double of his career with 11 points and 10 rebounds in the victory.
With plenty of back and forth play in the first half, Beavers junior forward Nick Hilton (Wilton, Maine) made a pair of free throws to tie the game at 14-all with 4:42 before the break. Monks junior guard Craig Luschenat (Boston, Mass.) followed by hitting a pair of three-pointers in a matter of 43 seconds to provide the hosts with a 20-14 cushion and sophomore guard Andrew Ruffen (Salem, N.H.) made a three of his own with 1:22 before the break to lift the Royal Blue to a 26-20 lead heading into intermission.
As it played out, the Monks would hold on to the lead for the remainder of the evening. A 7-0 run to start the second stanza, with five points from senior forward Zach Blodgett (Glenburn, Maine), certainly helped the cause, although the Beavers fought back with an 8-0 surge – with all eight points being scored by junior guard Logan Nichols (Minot, Maine) - to cut their deficit down to 33-28 with 13:53 remaining.
The comeback bid by Maine-Farmington was cut short, however, as the Monks managed to produce a game-changing 16-0 offensive outburst over the following seven minutes, an effort the essentially put the game out of reach for the visitors.
For the Monks, Luschenat totaled 11 points, Ruffen came off the bench to score a career-high 10 points while shooting 75% (3-4) from downtown, and Blodgett contributed seven points, six rebounds and four assists. Junior guard Jerome Diggs (Washington, D.C.) added six assists, three boards, two steals and a pair of blocked shots in the one-sided win. All 17 of the Monks' players logged time and nine different players found the scoring ledger in tonight's victory.
Nichols paced the Beavers with eight points while senior guard Pet Sumner (Cramerton, N.C.) added six points and four boards and senior center Uriah Forest-Bulley (Turner Falls, Mass.) pulled down a team-high seven caroms in a losing effort.
Saint Joseph's held considerable advantages in rebounds (40-31), assists (18-5) and bench points (19-12) in the non-conference victory.
With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 53-19 in the history of the series with Maine-Farmington, a team that tipped the Monks by an 83-74 margin last season. Tonight's scoring output by the Beavers is the lowest recorded in the 72-game history of the matchup. The previous low came in a 64-41 SJC victory on November 21st, 2006.
Saint Joseph's returns to action this Sunday when the Monks travel to Gorham to face Southern Maine in the annual battle for the Costello Cup. Tip-off is slated for 7:30 PM.
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Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 430-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
