NEWTON, MA - The Monks improve to 12-11 overall and hold a 10-6 record in conference play after a 79-70 victory over Mount Ida College on Tuesday evening. SO Alberto Rue (Jamaica Plain, MA) connected on 6 of 8 three-point attempts and scored a game and career-high 19 points in the victory. The Mustangs fall to 7-17 overall, 4-13 in GNAC action.

St. Joe's led the host Mustangs 20-2 after JR Scot Vachon (Schenectady, NY) made a layup seven minutes in to the first half. JR Elbie Murphy (Loudonville, NY) connected on two three-pointers and scored 7 points during the early SJC offensive spurt.

The Monks sported a 22-point cushion, 30-8, after FY Tyler Kelley (Saco, ME) made a 3-point shot with eight minutes to go in the half. Mount Ida put together a 13-5 run in the following 3 minutes that saw the Mustangs connect on three consecutive three-point attempts to diminish the SJC lead to fourteen, 35-21. With help from Alberto Rue's trio of treys in the closing minutes, the Monks took a 43-26 lead into the break.

The Mustangs mounted several comeback bids after recess and outscored the Monks 13-4 in the first six minutes of the second stanza. Senior guard Jimmy Driscoll (Dennis, MA) scored 8 points during the Mount Ida run, including a three-pointer that brought the Mustangs within 10 points, 49-39, with 14 minutes left in the contest.

FY Chris Davis (New York, NY) and Alberto Rue combined to score 12 points in a 16-5 run in the following five minutes that helped the Royal Blue stake a 65-44 lead. Mount Ida followed with yet another offensive outburst by topping the Monks 16-3 in the next 6 minutes to lower the deficit to just eight points, 68-60, with three minutes left to play. Jimmy Driscoll sparked the Mustangs with seven points in the rally effort.

SJC forward Elbie Murphy drained a 3-pointer on the next Monks possession to extend his team's lead to eleven and put the game out of reach for the upset-minded Mustangs. The teams exchanged free throws and field goals until the buzzer rang with the 79-70 being the final score.

Alberto Rue's 6 of 8 three-point performance helped the Monks post a staggering 54.5% (12-22) shooting percentage from beyond the arc. Elbie Murphy tallied 14 points and 3 assists and Chris Davis added 11 points and 2 blocked shots in the victory. JR Mitch Ouellet (Fort Kent, ME) netted 7 points and grabbed 6 rebounds.

For Mount Ida, Jimmy Driscoll led the way with 17 points and connected on 3-4 three-point shots. JR Matt Bennett (Rochester, NH) tallied 11 points and 6 rebounds and teammate SO Darren Martinez (Stoughton, MA) added 10 points and 6 assists in the loss.

With the victory, St. Joe's sits in fifth place in the conference standings behind Emerson College, Emmanuel College, Lasell College and Johnson and Wales University.

St. Joe's will travel to Nashua, NH on Thursday 2/21 to play GNAC opponent Rivier College at 7:00 PM. The Raiders are currently in sixth place in the conference with an 8-8 record, 11-12 overall.


St. Joseph's (Me.) vs Mount Ida College
02/19/08 6:00 p.m. at Newton Centre, MA

ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) 79, MOUNT IDA COLLEGE 70

ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) (12-11, 10-6 GNAC)
Alberto Rue 6-10 1-2 19; Elbie Murphy 3-8 5-6 14; Chris Davis 5-9 1-2 11;
Raymond Eatmon 3-5 2-4 8; Mitch Ouellet 2-5 3-5 7; Eric Friend 2-8 1-1 6;
Scot Vachon 1-3 4-4 6; T.J. Tandberg 1-1 0-0 3; Tyler Kelley 1-3 0-0 3;
Alonso Davis 1-3 0-0 2; Rashon Jones 0-1 0-0 0; Anthony Savino 0-0 0-0 0;
Jay Tutwiler 0-0 0-0 0; R.J. Mattison 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 25-58 17-24 79

MOUNT IDA COLLEGE (7-17, 4-13 GNAC)
James Driscoll 6-8 2-2 17; Matt Bennett 4-8 3-3 11; Darren Martinez 5-10 0-0
10; Michael Dunham 3-7 0-0 9; Teddy Louis-Jacques 3-6 0-0 7; Gino Dipietro
2-5 0-0 6; Thomas Belton 3-5 0-0 6; Nick Loomis 1-3 0-0 3; Otis Thompson 0-5
1-4 1; Brian Hapgood 0-0 0-0 0; Steve Dorsey 0-0 0-0 0; Gary Alvarez 0-0 0-0
0; Bruce Cary 0-3 0-0 0. Totals 27-60 6-9 70

St. Joseph's (Me.)............ 43 36 - 79
Mount Ida College............. 26 44 - 70

3-point goals-
St. Joseph's (Me.) 12-22 (Alberto Rue 6-8; Elbie Murphy 3-6;
T.J. Tandberg 1-1; Eric Friend 1-2; Tyler Kelley 1-2; Rashon Jones 0-1; R.J.
Mattison 0-2)

Mount Ida College 10-20 (Michael Dunham 3-6; James Driscoll
3-4; Gino Dipietro 2-5; Nick Loomis 1-2; Teddy Louis-Jacques 1-1; Bruce Cary
0-1; Darren Martinez 0-1)

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

Rebounds-
St. Joseph's (Me.) 36 (Mitch Ouellet 6)
Mount Ida College 35 (Matt Bennett 6)

Assists-
St. Joseph's (Me.) 17 (Scot Vachon 4)
Mount Ida College 16 (Darren Martinez 6)

Total fouls-St. Joseph's (Me.) 13
Mount Ida College 20.

A-400