Monks Win with Late Game Heroics

STANDISH, ME - Sophomore guard Scot Vachon (Schenectady, NY) made a layup with 3.2 seconds left to propel the Monks to an upset victory over GNAC foe Emmanuel College on Saturday afternoon. The Monks cap the regular season 13-12 overall and 11-7 in conference play. Sophomore guard Alberto Rue (Jamaica Plain, MA) led St. Joe's with 14 points in the exciting win. Emmanuel's junior guard Rob Williams-Hinton (Oak Park, MI) scored a game-high 20 points. The Saints complete their regular season 14-4 in GNAC play, 16-9 overall with the loss.

Emmanuel seemed to have the game in hand when they led by 18, 29-11, with 10 minutes to go in the first half after FR Tyrone Buchanan (Detroit, MI) hit a jumpshot to cap an 11-1 Saints run. The Monks fought back later in the opening half with a 12-2 run to narrow the Saints lead to 6 points with a minute remaining before break. FY Chris Davis (New York, NY) sparked the SJC surge with 4 points, a steal and a blocked shot. Emmanuel held an 8-point advantage, 40-32, going into halftime.

The Saints extended their lead to 13 points, 50-37, five minutes into the second half after junior forward Mack Spellman (Clinton, NY) hit jumpers on back-to-back Emmanuel possessions. St. Joe's followed with a 16-5 run in the subsequent six minutes to diminish the Saints lead to 2 points, 55-53, with nine minutes to play. SO Rashon Jones (Bridgeport, CT) scored 5 points and dealt two helpers during the SJC run.

The Monks would gain the lead, 59-58, for the first time since the opening minutes when JR Elbie Murphy (Loudonville, NY) took a pass from teammate SO Ray Eatmon (Huntington, NY) and drove to the hoop for a lay-in with 6:18 remaining. St. Joe's extended their lead to 5 points, 63-58, after Chris Davis and Murphy drained jumpers on consecutive SJC possessions with just under five minutes to go.

Emmanuel fired back with an 8-2 run that saw the Saints regain the lead, 66-65, after SO Mike Jackson (New York, NY) connected on a jumpshot with 2:12 left in regulation. The Monks' Chris Davis and the Saints' Mike Jackson exchanged jumpshots to make the score 68-67, Emmanuel, with 1:12 to play.

Scot Vachon, for the second time this season, (Vachon also made a buzzer-beating lay-up to defeat Rivier 1/31) drove the lane with determination and used his finishing touch to seal a Monks 69-68 victory.

St. Joe's out-rebounded the Saints 41-35 and made 51.7% of their field goal attempts in the second half to earn the victory.

For the Monks, Chris Davis tallied his second double-double of the season with 12 points and 10 boards and Rashon Jones added 11 points and 4 assists in the victory. Ray Eatmon scored 9 points and added 5 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals.

Saints forward Mack Spellman also collected a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds and teammate JR Levi Smith (Tulsa, OK) scored 10 points.

St. Joe's earned the #5 seed in the GNAC playoffs and will travel to Providence, RI to play #4 Johnson and Wales University on Tuesday, February 26th at 7:30 PM. Emmanuel finished the year as the #3 seed and will host #6 seed Rivier College on Tuesday evening.

Emmanuel College vs St. Joseph's (Me.)
02/23/08 3:00 PM at Standish, Maine

ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) 69, EMMANUEL COLLEGE 68
EMMANUEL COLLEGE (16-9, 14-4 GNAC)

Rob Williams-Hinton 6-12 6-7 20; Mack Spellman 8-17 3-3 19; Levi Smith 4-8
2-2 10; Tyrone Buchanan 3-5 0-0 6; J.P. Ventura 2-4 0-0 6; Mike Jackson 2-5
0-0 4; Chris Puzacke 1-1 0-0 2; Zach Luster 0-3 1-1 1; Andres Bustamante 0-3
0-1 0; Torrey Joyner 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 26-61 12-14 68.

ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) (13-12, 11-7 GNAC)
Alberto Rue 4-12 4-6 14; Chris Davis 5-9 2-3 12; Rashon Jones 5-8 1-2 11;
Raymond Eatmon 4-7 1-3 9; Scot Vachon 4-6 0-0 8; Elbie Murphy 2-12 2-2 6;
Mitch Ouellet 2-5 0-0 4; T.J. Tandberg 1-1 2-2 4; Alonso Davis 0-1 1-2 1;
Eric Friend 0-1 0-0 0; Tyler Kelley 0-0 0-0 0; Anthony Savino 0-0 0-0 0; Jay
Tutwiler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-62 13-20 69.

Emmanuel College.............. 40 28 - 68
St. Joseph's (Me.)............ 32 37 - 69

3-point goals-
Emmanuel College 4-12 (Rob Williams-Hinton 2-2; J.P. Ventura
2-3; Tyrone Buchanan 0-1; Andres Bustamante 0-1; Torrey Joyner 0-1; Mack
Spellman 0-4)

St. Joseph's (Me.) 2-12 (Alberto Rue 2-7; Rashon Jones 0-2;
Elbie Murphy 0-3)

Fouled out--Emmanuel College-None, St. Joseph's (Me.)-None

Rebounds-
Emmanuel College 35 (Mack Spellman 12)
St. Joseph's (Me.) 41 (Chris Davis 10)

Assists-
Emmanuel College 17 (Mike Jackson 5)
St. Joseph's (Me.) 13 (Raymond Eatmon 5)

Total fouls-Emmanuel College 18, St. Joseph's (Me.) 16

A-500