STANDISH, ME - Elbie Murphy '09 (Loudonville, NY) had a game-high 16 points and Scot Vachon '09 (Schenectady, NY) added 15 as Saint Joseph's (15-6, 9-5 GNAC) defeated Mount Ida College (9-10, 3-9) 70-58 in conference action on Saturday at the Alfond Center. Ray Eatmon '10 (Huntington, NY) grabbed a team season-high 16 rebounds in the triumph. Mustangs guard Darren Martinez ‘10 (Mattapan, MA) led the visitors with 15 points.

An Eatmon jumper capped a game-opening 7-2 run by the Monks, which spanned the first 2:17 of the contest. A basket from Chris Petzy ‘12 (East Kingston, NH) over two minutes later propelled St. Joe's to a 13-5 lead with 15:04 left in the first half.

The shooters went cold over the next five minutes of play, as the teams combined to score just six points with six misses and six turnovers. Leading 18-11 at the 9:47 mark, the Monks pilfered three steals from the Mustangs, with Murphy collecting two steals, the first of which ending in a breakaway dunk, as St. Joe's scored three easy buckets to take a 24-11 lead with 8:40 before the break.

Mount Ida managed to shut out the Royal Blue, 12-0, as a Joseph Cabral ‘12 (Walpole, MA) hoop capped the run and cut the SJC lead to 26-23 3:36 later. The Mustangs gained their only lead of the game when Matt Bennett ‘09 (Rochester, NH) connected on a jumper at the 2:57 mark to give his team a slim 29-28 edge. SJC forward Chris Davis ‘11 (New York, NY) countered just six seconds later with a layup to put the Monks back in the lead. Mount Ida managed to keep the contest within striking distance for the rest of the first stanza and trailed 35-31 at intermission.

A layup from Zach O'Brien 12 (Schenectady, NY) 5:44 into the second half put the Monks up by nine, 46-37, but the Mustangs mounted a 9-2 run, capped by a Martinez bucket at the 11:24 mark, to cut the SJC lead to 48-46. Murphy went on to score the next six points for St. Joe's, which led 56-51 after the senior's second slam of the contest as he was sprung free, after recording his third steal, by a Tyler Kelley ‘11 (Saco, ME) pass.

Baskets from Alberto Rue ‘10 (Jamaica Plain, MA) and Vachon extended the Royal Blue lead to 60-52 two minutes later. After a turnover by Mustangs guard Dave Santos ‘10 (Mattapan, MA), Saint Joseph's managed to control the ball for nearly two and a half minutes as the hosts, accounting for six straight missed shots, outworked the visitors on the glass to collect six offensive caroms. The series, capped by a Vachon drive and three-point play to put the Monks up 63-52, seemed to swing the momentum of the game with 4:09 remaining.

Saint Joseph's maintained the double-digit lead for the rest of the second half and a free throw from Bobby Russo ‘09 (Hartsdale, NY) with seven seconds remaining closed out the game scoring with the Monks earning a 70-58 GNAC victory.

The Monks outrebounded (43-33) and outshot (45.5% to 36.2%) the Mustangs while grabbing 12 steals in the triumph. Both teams shot a miserable 1-11 (9.1%) from three-point range in the conference contest.

For St. Joe's, Rue had nine points, Mitch Ouellet ‘09 (Fort Kent, ME) scored eight, O'Brien registered six points and Vachon had five dimes.

For Mount Ida, Bennett had 10 points with six boards, Gino Dipietro ‘09 (Westbrook, ME) scored seven points and Otis Thompson ‘09 (Brockton, MA) netted six points and eight caroms.

Saint Joseph's will play at Emerson College on Saturday, February 14th at 1:00 PM, while the Mustangs are set to host Lasell College on Tuesday, February 10th at 6:00 PM.


Newspaper Box Score
Mount Ida College vs Saint Joseph's College (Me.)
02/07/09 3:00 PM at Standish, Maine
At Standish, Maine
SAINT JOSEPH'S COLLEGE (ME.) 70, MOUNT IDA COLLEGE 58
MOUNT IDA COLLEGE (9-10, 3-9 GNAC)
Darren Martinez 5-14 5-5 15; Matt Bennett 3-9 4-6 10; Gino Dipietro 1-4 4-5
7; Otis Thompson 3-4 0-0 6; Travis Hillery 2-5 0-0 4; Teddy Louis 2-3 0-0 4;
Dave Santos 1-3 1-2 3; Bruce Cary 1-7 0-0 2; Isiah Benjamin 1-3 0-0 2;
Joseph Cabral 1-1 0-0 2; Brian Hapgood 1-1 0-0 2; Michael Dunham 0-4 1-2 1;
Steven Dorsey 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 21-58 15-20 58.
SAINT JOSEPH'S COLLEGE (ME.) (15-6, 9-5 GNAC)
Elbie Murphy 5-7 5-9 16; Scot Vachon 6-8 3-5 15; Ray Eatmon 3-5 3-10 9;
Alberto Rue 3-5 3-4 9; Mitch Ouellet 2-5 4-5 8; Zach O'Brien 3-8 0-0 6;
Chris Davis 1-2 0-0 2; Tyler Kelley 1-7 0-0 2; Chris Petzy 1-7 0-0 2; Bobby
Russo 0-0 1-2 1; Eric Friend 0-0 0-0 0; Tom Ray 0-0 0-0 0; R. J. Mattison
0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-55 19-35 70.
Mount Ida College............. 31 27 - 58
Saint Joseph's College (Me.).. 35 35 - 70
3-point goals--Mount Ida College 1-11 (Gino Dipietro 1-4; Matt Bennett 0-1;
Dave Santos 0-1; Isiah Benjamin 0-1; Michael Dunham 0-3; Darren Martinez
0-1), Saint Joseph's College (Me.) 1-11 (Elbie Murphy 1-2; Alberto Rue 0-1;
Mitch Ouellet 0-1; Tyler Kelley 0-4; Chris Petzy 0-3). Fouled out--Mount Ida
College-None, Saint Joseph's College (Me.)-None. Rebounds--Mount Ida College
33 (Otis Thompson 8), Saint Joseph's College (Me.) 43 (Ray Eatmon 16).
Assists--Mount Ida College 12 (Darren Martinez 6), Saint Joseph's College
(Me.) 11 (Scot Vachon 5). Total fouls--Mount Ida College 22, Saint Joseph's
College (Me.) 19. Technical fouls--Mount Ida College-None, Saint Joseph's
College (Me.)-None. A-175