STANDISH, ME - Saint Joseph's (14-6, 8-5 GNAC) led 52-27 at halftime and cruised to an 86-51 conference victory over Suffolk (3-16, 2-10) on Thursday evening at the Alfond Center. Chris Davis '11 (New York, NY) paced four Monks who reached double-digits with a game-high 21 points and Ray Eatmon '10 (Huntington, NY) notched his sixth double-double effort of the year with 12 points and 11 caroms in the triumph. Suffolk guard Mike Lindberg '10 (Attleboro, MA) scored 12 points to lead the Rams in the losing effort.

Monks guard Zach O'Brien ‘12 (Schenectady, NY) drilled a three-pointer on the first SJC possession and scored nine points in the first 3:36 to help provide the Royal Blue, who never trailed in the contest, with an early13-5 lead. St. Joe's went on to boost their lead to 27-7 after Chris Davis converted a three-point play, capping a 14-2 run, five minutes later.

Scot Vachon ‘09 (Schenectady, NY) pushed the Monks' lead to 27 points, 44-17, with 4:57 to go before the break. The senior point guard grabbed a defensive board off a Luke Barrett ‘12 (Cincinnati, OH) miss, drove the ball coast-to-coast, and finished the play with a layup off the glass. With eight seconds left in the first, an Alberto Rue ‘10 (Jamaica Plain, MA) jumper put the Monks up 52-27 going into the break.

St. Joe's maintained at least a 23-point lead for the entire second half and went up by a game-high 33 points, 74-41, after T.J. Tandberg ‘11 (Windham, ME) sank a pair of freebies.
In the closing minutes, Bobby Russo ‘09 (Hartsdale, NY) and Tom Ray ‘12 (Cape Elizabeth, ME) made free throws and Eric Friend ‘11 (Portland, ME) and R.J. Mattison ‘09 (Hamden, CT) both made jumpers to cap the game scoring with the Monks securely in the lead, 84-53.

Saint Joseph's shot 53.1% (34-64) overall and a scorching 61.1% (22-36) in the first stanza, while Suffolk made 38.6% (22-57) of their attempts from the floor in the game. The Rams committed 25 turnovers and converted a meager 10.5% (2-19) of their shots from three-point range in the loss.

The Monks grabbed a season-high 17 steals in the victory and the 51 points scored by the Rams is the fewest points the team has allowed this season.

For the Monks, Vachon tallied 11 points, four assists, four rebounds and three steals and O'Brien had 11 points, all in the first half, with five boards, three assists and two steals. Chris Petzy ‘12 (East Kingston, NH) netted six points, Elbie Murphy ‘09 (Loudonville, NY) chipped in with five points and five assists and Mattison, Friend and Rue all added four points apiece. First-year players Tom Ray and Ben Baudanza-Sturks ‘10 (Rockland, ME) both made their Alfond Center debut in the victory.

For the Rams, Brian Small ‘09 (Stoughton, MA) registered 11 points and seven rebounds, Barrett had eight points and Mario Massimino ‘11 (East Haven, CT) added six points. Lindberg grabbed three steals and Brad Seaman ‘10 (Avon, CT) collected five caroms in defeat.

Saint Joseph's will play host to GNAC foe Mount Ida College on Saturday, February 7th at 3:00 PM while Suffolk is set to travel to Albertus Magnus College on Saturday to take on the Falcons at 3:30 PM.

Newspaper Box Score
Suffolk vs Saint Joseph's College (Me.)
02/05/09 7:00 PM at Standish, Maine
At Standish, Maine
SAINT JOSEPH'S COLLEGE (ME.) 86, SUFFOLK 51
SUFFOLK (3-16, 2-10 GNAC)
Mike Lindberg 6-9 0-0 12; Brian Small 4-7 3-5 11; Luke Barrett 3-9 0-1 8;
Mario Massimino 3-5 0-2 6; Jevic Muteba 2-4 0-0 4; Mike Gibbons 1-12 0-0 2;
Joe Ransom 1-3 0-0 2; Brad Seaman 1-2 0-0 2; Mike Fleming 0-1 2-2 2; Allan
Ray 1-3 0-2 2; Justin Barall 0-0 0-0 0; Dan Williams 0-1 0-0 0; Kevin Blake
0-0 0-0 0; Craig Sadowski 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 22-57 5-12 51.
SAINT JOSEPH'S COLLEGE (ME.) (14-6, 8-5 GNAC)
Chris Davis 8-11 5-6 21; Ray Eatmon 5-6 2-3 12; Scot Vachon 5-9 1-1 11; Zach
O'Brien 5-7 0-0 11; Chris Petzy 2-5 2-5 6; Elbie Murphy 2-7 0-0 5; Eric
Friend 2-4 0-2 4; Alberto Rue 2-4 0-1 4; R. J. Mattison 2-4 0-0 4; Tom Ray
0-0 3-4 3; Mitch Ouellet 1-2 0-0 2; T. J. Tandberg 0-2 2-2 2; Bobby Russo
0-1 1-2 1; Jay Tutwiler 0-0 0-0 0; Ben Baudanza-Sturks 0-0 0-0 0; Tyler
Kelley 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 34-64 16-26 86.
Suffolk....................... 27 24 - 51
Saint Joseph's College (Me.).. 52 34 - 86
3-point goals--Suffolk 2-19 (Luke Barrett 2-5; Brian Small 0-1; Mike Gibbons
0-9; Mike Fleming 0-1; Allan Ray 0-1; Craig Sadowski 0-1; Mike Lindberg
0-1), Saint Joseph's College (Me.) 2-9 (Elbie Murphy 1-3; Zach O'Brien 1-1;
Eric Friend 0-1; Alberto Rue 0-1; Mitch Ouellet 0-1; T. J. Tandberg 0-1;
Bobby Russo 0-1). Fouled out--Suffolk-None, Saint Joseph's College
(Me.)-None. Rebounds--Suffolk 35 (Brian Small 7), Saint Joseph's College
(Me.) 39 (Ray Eatmon 11). Assists--Suffolk 11 (Brian Small 4), Saint
Joseph's College (Me.) 19 (Elbie Murphy 5). Total fouls--Suffolk 20, Saint
Joseph's College (Me.) 15. Technical fouls--Suffolk-Justin Barall, Saint
Joseph's College (Me.)-None. A-150