STANDISH, ME - Tyler Kelley '11 (Saco, ME) scored a game and career high 22 points to help Saint Joseph's (4-1) get by Norwich University (1-5), 58-52, on Wednesday evening at the Alfond Center. Norwich kept the game close throughout with the help of a pair of double-double efforts from Antonio Davis '12 (Albany, NY), with 17 rebounds and 10 points, and Robert Thurman '12 (Edwards, CA), who tallied 13 points and 13 boards.

For the Monks, Ray Eatmon '10 (Huntington, NY) chipped in with nine points and 13 rebounds and Chris Davis '11 (New York, NY) added 10 points and six boards in the conference triumph. Zach O'Brien '12 (Schenectady, NY) tallied seven points, six boards and five assists and Scot Vachon '09 (Schenectady, NY), with five steals, led an SJC defensive attack that forced 23 Norwich turnovers in the victory.

The St. Joe's shooters were off to a hot start, making three three-pointers, two from Kelley, to stake an 11-4 lead after six minutes of play. The Monks long-distance shooting went cold in the following eight minutes, however, as the their next five shots from downtown failed to connect. Meanwhile, the Cadets found their way back into the game, outscoring the Royal Blue 13-6 during the stretch and found themselves down by just one point, 18-17, after Mike Filipek '09 (Jericho, VT) nailed a jumper with 6:18 left in the first half.

In the final minutes before the break, St. Joe's was aided by four Norwich turnovers and took a seven point lead, 27-20, into the break after Kelley capped a 9-3 run with his third trey of the contest.

To start the second half, the Monks outscored the visitors 10-3 and Chris Petzy '12 (East Kingston, NH) hit a shot from beyond the arc to help St. Joe's increase their lead to a game-high fourteen points, 37-23, with 13:54 to play.

The pesky Cadets refused to go away, however, and immediately followed the SJC run with an 11-0 surge of their own, highlighted by five points from Thurman. The Cadets made it a one-possession game, trailing 37-34, after Antonio Davis hit a jumper at the 9:46 mark.

The Monks converted their next four possessions in the following minute, three coming off Kelley jumpers, to jump out to a nine point lead, 45-36. The Cadets fired back on their next drive with a three from Andrew Menzie '12 (Coral Glades, FL) to keep the game within reach.

The Monks managed a final offensive surge and outscored the Cadets 10-4 and led 55-43 with 2:32 left after Kelley made his fourth trey of the game. In the final minutes for Norwich, the formula of Thurman and Davis on the glass, a 9-0 run and a 6-11 free throw performance from the Monks allowed the visitors to stay in the game until the end, when Mitch Ouellet '09 (Fort Kent, ME) sank two charity shots with three seconds remaining to effectively end the visitors hopes.

Norwich will host the Ed Hockenbury Classic and will face St. Joseph's (Vt.) in its first round game on Saturday at 6:00 PM while the Monks will face off against GNAC rival Johnson & Wales University on Saturday at 5:00 PM.


Newspaper Box Score
Norwich University vs Saint Joseph's College (Me.)
12-03-08 6:00 PM at Standish, Maine
At Standish, Maine
SAINT JOSEPH'S COLLEGE (ME.) 58, NORWICH UNIVERSITY 52
NORWICH UNIVERSITY (1-5, 0-1 GNAC)
Thurman, Robert 5-7 3-5 13; Davis, Antonio 4-11 2-2 10; Cabrera, Joshua 4-13
0-0 8; Filipek, Mike 2-5 2-2 6; Menzie, Andrew 2-5 0-0 5; Jeffcoat, Jaren
2-5 1-2 5; Guardado, Israel 1-1 0-0 2; Fico, Tim 1-3 0-2 2; McConnell, Kyle
0-2 1-2 1; Rowett, Jeff 0-0 0-0 0; Williams, Eric 0-0 0-0 0; McQuarrie, Kyle
0-4 0-0 0. Totals 21-56 9-15 52.
SAINT JOSEPH'S COLLEGE (ME.) (4-1, 1-0 GNAC)
Tyler Kelley 9-17 0-1 22; Chris Davis 5-14 0-1 10; Ray Eatmon 3-12 3-7 9;
Zach O'Brien 2-10 2-2 7; Scot Vachon 2-6 1-4 5; Chris Petzy 1-1 0-0 3; Mitch
Ouellet 0-3 2-2 2; Alberto Rue 0-7 0-2 0; R. J. Mattison 0-1 0-0 0. Totals
22-71 8-19 58.
Norwich University............ 20 32 - 52
Saint Joseph's College (Me.).. 27 31 - 58
3-point goals--Norwich University 1-11 (Menzie, Andrew 1-3; Davis, Antonio
0-1; Cabrera, Joshua 0-3; Jeffcoat, Jaren 0-2; McConnell, Kyle 0-1;
McQuarrie, Kyle 0-1), Saint Joseph's College (Me.) 6-23 (Tyler Kelley 4-11;
Zach O'Brien 1-4; Chris Petzy 1-1; Scot Vachon 0-1; Mitch Ouellet 0-1;
Alberto Rue 0-4; Chris Davis 0-1). Fouled out--Norwich University-Jeffcoat,
Jaren, Saint Joseph's College (Me.)-None. Rebounds--Norwich University 53
(Davis, Antonio 17), Saint Joseph's College (Me.) 42 (Ray Eatmon 13).
Assists--Norwich University 9 (Cabrera, Joshua 4), Saint Joseph's College
(Me.) 13 (Zach O'Brien 5). Total fouls--Norwich University 15, Saint
Joseph's College (Me.) 10. Technical fouls--Norwich University-None, Saint
Joseph's College (Me.)-None. A-310