WORCESTER, Mass. – Senior guards Nicholas Curtis (Windham, Maine) and Griffin Foley (Portland, Maine) combined to score 56 points to help Saint Joseph's College (1-1) hold off New England College (1-3), 104-94, in the Ted Coghlin Memorial Tournament Consolation game at WPI on Saturday afternoon.

The victory is the first career win for Saint Joseph's Head Coach Tyler Ackley, who was named as the Monks' leader earlier this fall.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

St. Joe's came out of the gates firing and held a 28-15 lead after freshman Julian Llopiz (Boston, Mass.) made a layup with 13:02 left in the first half. The Pilgrims responded with 11 unanswered points to make it a two-point (31-29) game with 9:08 to go before the break.

The Monks, led by Foley and Llopiz with 14 points apiece, managed to settle in and carried a 51-39 advantage into intermission.

Leading 62-52 early in the second half, Saint Joseph's posted a 17-4 run with a Llopiz layup extending the SJC cushion to a game-high 23 points (79-56) with 11:32 remaining.

Curtis drilled a three-pointer at the 9:40 mark to maintain the Monks' 23-point lead, but the Pilgrims proceeded to mount an impressive 20-5 outburst as a Kyle Inglis jump shot made it an 89-81 game with 4:10 left to play.

Foley helped the Monks temporarily stave off the NEC comeback bid by scoring six straight points in a matter of 15 seconds off a three-point bucket and a traditional three-point play. The Pilgrims snapped back with seven unanswered points to cut their deficit down to 95-88 with 2:15 on the clock.

Saint Joseph's was finally able to put the game out of reach with seven-consecutive points to gain a 102-88 and 46 seconds remaining.

STATS OF THE GAME:

The Monks shot the lights out from three-point distance (16-34, 47.1%) and the free throw line (18-20, 90%) and claimed the victory despite allowing 27 points on 25 turnovers.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Curtis led all scorers with 30 points and was 8-for-11 from the floor, 6-for-8 from three-point range, and 8-for-8 from the FT line with five assists and a pair of steals
• Foley was 7-for-7 from the charity stripe with a career-high 26 points, five rebounds, three assists, and a pair of steals
• Llopiz netted 21 points off a 5-for-9 effort from three-point distance and pulled down four rebounds
• Sophomore Camryn Yorke (Auburn, Maine) came off the bench to secure 14 rebounds with three assists and six points
• Senior David Keohan (West Newfield, Maine) tallied nine boards and four assists

LEADERS – NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE:

• Jamal Allen was 15-for-16 from the free throw line with 25 points, five rebounds, and five assists
• Michael Tavilla posted a double-double with 23 points and 10 boards and was 9-for-13 from the floor
• Calvin Cheek added 11 points, seven rebounds, seven steals, and three assists
• Marquez Rather came off the bench to score 11 points

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 13-0 all-time versus New England College, a team the Monks had not played since the 1984-85 season prior to this afternoon's contest.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's will host Bates College on Monday at 7:00 PM.

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