#3 Saint Joseph's College (19-7, 12-6
GNAC)
vs.
#4 Emmanuel College (17-10, 12-6 GNAC)
2009 GNAC Men's Basketball Coach of the Year
Rob Sanicola ‘99 has guided
the third-seeded Monks to a 20-7 overall record this season, while
the 12-6 conference tilt produced a #3 seed in the GNAC tourney for
the Royal Blue. St. Joe's defeated #6 seed Rivier College, 85-67,
in a quarterfinal on Tuesday and proceeded to topple #7 Albertus
Magnus, 75-64, in the semi's on Thursday to advance to the team's
first GNAC Championship in its second year as a league member.
Tyler Kelley ‘11 (Saco, ME)
and 2009 First Team All-Conference forward Ray Eatmon ‘10
(Huntington, NY) both netted 14 points to lead the Monks in the
semi-final win. Eatmon ranks as the team's top
scorer and rebounder this season, with 12.8 points and 9.4 caroms
averages. The junior needs 14 rebounds to become the fourth player
in team history to gather 250 boards in a season.
Kelley, Chris
Davis ‘11 (New York, NY) and Second Team
All-Conference recipient Elbie
Murphy ‘09 (Loudonville, NY) all average
better than 10 PPG this year for the Monks.
Fourth-seeded Emmanuel, led by fifth-year Head Coach
Jamahl Jackson, come into today's
championship game with a 17-10 overall record and a 12-6 GNAC
record. The Saints defeated #5 Johnson & Wales, 90-86, in a
quarterfinal on Tuesday and pulled off a 94-91 double-overtime
upset victory against top-seeded Lasell College Thursday night to
advance to the Saints' second GNAC title game in program history.
First Team All-Conference honoree Rob
Williams-Hinton ‘09 (Oak Park, MI) and
Mike Jackson ‘10 (New York,
NY) both dropped 22 points to help lift the Saints over Lasell.
Williams-Hinton is the team's leading scorer and ranks sixth in the
GNAC with 17.6 PPG. His 2.2 steals per game leads the league.
The winner of Saturday's title game receives an automatic qualifier
into the NCAA DIII National Tournament. A trip to the NCAA's would
be the second for the Monks, as they advanced to "The Dance" in
2003 as an NCAA DIII Independent. Emmanuel has never played in the
NCAA tourney.
Saint Joseph's holds a 3-1 record against the Saints in the history
of the series and has defeated Emmanuel twice this season in a pair
of closely contested games. The Monks defeated the Saints at the
Alfond Center on January 19th, 73-65, and again in Boston on
February 17th, 82-75. SJC guard Elbie Murphy ‘09
(Loudonville, NY) has averaged 15.5 points and 7.5 assists against
Emmanuel this year, while Saints' guard Mike Jackson ‘10 (New
York, NY) has scored 20 points in both losses to the Monks.
GNAC
Men's Basketball Tournament Bracket
Monks
Basketball Statistics
Saints
Basketball Statistics
