STANDISH, ME - The Monks defeated conference counterpart Rivier College, 76-75, on Thursday night to improve to 7-3 in GNAC play and 9-8 overall. JR Scot Vachon (Schenectady, NY) drove the lane and made a layup in the final seconds to seal the SJC victory. Four-hundred St. Joe's fans were given macaroni and cheese boxes, courtesy of the Standish Hannaford, to use as noisemakers during the game. The mac ‘n cheese boxes were collected after the game by the Saint Joseph's Student Life Staff and donated to the Standish Food Pantry.

 Neither team held a lead of more than three points until the 7-minute mark when Rivier used a 14-2 run that helped the Raiders take a 10-point lead, 42-32, into the break. The Raider lead was minimal considering they converted an incredible 65% of their shots in the first half while the Monks could only manage to connect on 28% of their attempts.

FY Eric Friend (Portland, ME) sparked the SJC offense early in the second half with 6 quick points to hold the Rivier lead to seven points, 47-40, at the 17-minute mark. The Raiders extended their lead to 11 points after Lance Bisson (Nashua, NH) hit a 3-pointer to put his team up, 58-47, with 11 minutes remaining.

The Monks outscored the Raiders 10-2 in the next 4 minutes to come within 2 points, 63-61. SO Alberto Rue (Jamaica Plain, MA) came through in the clutch and hit a three-pointer to tie the game, 66-66, with five minutes remaining.

SO Alonso Davis (Richmond, VA) drained a jumpshot with three minutes left to give the Monks the lead, 70-69, and the team's first advantage since the 10-minute mark of the first stanza. The Raiders countered with a jumpshot from Calvin Akers (Meredith, NH) to regain the lead, 73-72, with 2 minutes on the game clock.

On the Monks next possession JR Mitch Ouellet (Fort Kent, ME) was fouled to earn a trip to the charity stripe for two attempts. Ouellet was cool under pressure and sank both attempts to give his team the one-point lead with 30 tics left. Jeff Carpenter (Meredith, NH) countered with a mid-range jumper to give the Raiders a one-point advantage of their own and 14 seconds to protect it. Vachon provided the Royal Blue faithful with a victory as he took a final seconds drive to the hoop.

Five Monks players scored 10 or more points and SO Ray Eatmon (Huntington, NY) scored 12 points and grabbed 10 boards to register his fifth double-double of the season. JR Elbie Murphy (Loudonville, NY) added 11 points and 4 assists and Alonso Davis came off the bench to tally 10 points and 9 rebounds. Scot Vachon and Eric Friend each totaled 10 points, 5 assists and 2 steals in the victory.

Jeff Carpenter led the Raiders with 25 points and made 9-10 field goal attempts in the Rivier loss.

The Monks out-rebounded the Raiders by a 49-34 margin in the contest.

St. Joe's will travel to Boston on Saturday, 2/2 to take on GNAC foe Emerson College. The teams are currently tied for third place in the GNAC standings and the game begins at 12:00 PM.


Rivier College vs St. Joseph's (Me.)
01/31/08 7:30 PM at Standish, Maine

ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) 76, RIVIER COLLEGE 75

RIVIER COLLEGE (10-8, 7-4 GNAC)
Jeff Carpenter 9-10 7-10 25; Lance Bisson 4-9 2-4 11; John McAllen 3-3 1-1
10; Calvin Akers 4-12 0-2 8; Danny Ford 3-7 0-0 7; Luke Brownell 3-4 0-0 6;
Kevin Harrington 1-1 0-0 3; Bryant Mills 1-2 0-0 3; Felipe Lima 1-4 0-1 2;
Dj Poitras 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 29-52 10-18 75.

ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) (9-8, 7-3 GNAC)
Raymond Eatmon 6-13 0-0 12; Elbie Murphy 4-10 1-2 11; Eric Friend 5-11 0-1
10; Alonso Davis 4-6 2-4 10; Scot Vachon 5-7 0-0 10; Chris Davis 3-10 3-4 9;
Mitch Ouellet 2-5 2-2 6; Alberto Rue 2-12 0-0 5; Tyler Kelley 1-4 0-0 3;
Rashon Jones 0-1 0-0 0; Anthony Savino 0-0 0-0 0; Jay Tutwiler 0-1 0-0 0;
Bobby Russo 0-2 0-0 0; R.J. Mattison 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-83 8-13 76.

Rivier College................ 42 33 - 75
St. Joseph's (Me.)............ 32 44 - 76

3-point goals-
Rivier College 7-13 (John McAllen 3-3; Lance Bisson 1-2; Kevin
Harrington 1-1; Bryant Mills 1-1; Danny Ford 1-5; Felipe Lima 0-1)

St. Joseph's (Me.) 4-25 (Elbie Murphy 2-5; Tyler Kelley 1-2; Alberto Rue 1-9;
Mitch Ouellet 0-1; Rashon Jones 0-1; Jay Tutwiler 0-1; Bobby Russo 0-1; R.J.
Mattison 0-1; Eric Friend 0-4)

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

Rebounds-
Rivier College 34 (Calvin Akers 11)
St. Joseph's (Me.) 49 (Raymond Eatmon 11)

Assists-
Rivier College 21 (Lance Bisson 10)
St. Joseph's (Me.) 19 (Eric Friend 5; Scot Vachon 5)

Total fouls-
Rivier College 14
St. Joseph's (Me.) 20.
A-400