NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Freshman guard Ian Mileikis (Auburn, Maine) drilled a buzzer-beating three-pointer to push Saint Joseph's College (4-8, 1-4 GNAC) past Norwich University (3-9, 0-5 GNAC), 63-62, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball contest on Thursday night.

THE LEAD

Norwich held a 62-60 lead with five seconds remaining in regulation and figured to put the game away with sophomore Ryan Booth (Northfield, Vt.) at the free-throw line, but the second-year guard's shot was off the mark and Mileikis pulled down the rebound, raced down the left side of the court, and nailed a game-winning shot, which was taken two steps back from the three-point line on the left wing as time expired.

Mired in a six-game losing streak, the outlook appeared bleak in the early going for the Monks, as the Cadets held a game-high 12-point lead (20-8) with 8:46 before the break. St. Joe's, unable to score in bunches of late, responded with a 15-0 run to claim their first advantage of the night, as freshman forward Marc Corey (Londonderry, N.H.) made a layup to cap the outbreak and lift the visitors to a 23-20 cushion with 3:29 left in the first half.

The lead changed hands on seven occasions in the second stanza before the closing seconds, when Corey hacked Booth to send the sophomore guard to the line for a one-and-one attempt.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S

• Sophomore forward Quinn Richardson-Newton (Saco, Maine) led five SJC players in double digits with 14 points and added six rebounds
• Mileikis netted 12 with six caroms
• Senior guard Craig Luschenat (Boston, Mass.) added 12 points and four assists
• Freshman Darian Berry (Rochester, N.H.) came off the bench to score a career-high 11 points in 18 minutes of play
• Corey scored 10 points with a pair of boards
• Senior guard Davis Tucker (High Point, N.C.), making the first start of his collegiate career, tallied two points, six rebounds, two assists and a steal in the victory

LEADERS – NORWICH

• Sophomore guard David Hampton (Lebanon, N.H.) netted a game-high 18 points off the bench and was 6-9 from three-point distance
• Booth contributed 11 points and five rebounds
• Senior guard Jimmy Warden (North Andover, Mass.) added nine points, four boards, four steals and three assists
• Sophomore guard Zygimantas Sirvydas's (Silale, Lithuania) tallied eight points, seven assists, four caroms and two steals in the setback

 TEAM STATS

Saint Joseph's shot an even 50% (22-44) from the field, 43.8% (7-16) from three-point range, and 63.2% (12-19) from the free-throw line while Norwich posted performances of 45.8% (22-48), 40% (12-30) and 46.2% (6-13) from the floor, beyond the arc, and the charity stripe, respectively, on the evening.

The Monks held the advantage in rebounds (31-21), points in the paint (20-18) and fast break points (6-2) while the Cadets led in assists (18-13), points off turnovers (23-16), and bench points (24-13) in the conference contest.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING

With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 15-3 in the history of the series with Norwich University. The Monks have now defeated the Cadets in 10-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2010-11 season.

NEXT!

Both teams return to action Saturday with conference contests, as Saint Joseph's hosts reigning GNAC Champion Albertus Magnus College (7-1, 4-0 GNAC) at 3:00 PM and Norwich travels to Johnson & Wales University for a 3:00 PM tip-off.

#GOMONKS

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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 474-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.