STANDISH, ME - Husson University (2-2) defeated St. Joe's (3-1), 89-84, in a non-conference men's basketball game at the Harold Alfond Center on Tuesday evening. The Monks were led offensively by Zach O'Brien '12 (Schenectady, NY), who posted his second career double-double with 24 points and 10 caroms and added 7 assists to his impressive stat line.
Brock Bradford '10 (Kenduskeag, ME) and Matt MacKenzie '10 (Warren, ME) accounted for much of the Eagles' offense, as both scored 28 points in the Husson triumph.
Chris Petzy '12 (Kensington, NH) was 8-8 from the FT line and netted a career-high 15 points and Tyler Kelley '11 (Saco, ME) added 14 for the Monks. Alberto Rue '10 (Jamaica Plain, MA) was 5-7 from the floor and chipped in with 13 points in a losing effort.
Bon Apétit Dining Services and local grocery stores combined to donate shipments of boxed pasta and rice for the first 400 fans to use as noisemakers during "Shake your Ziti-n-Rice Night" at the Alfond Center. Although the boilable goods weren't able to push the Royal Blue over the top, the intention was two-fold, as all fans returned the boxes of pasta and rice upon exit as a donation to Catherine's Cupboard, a local food pantry located in the Standish Town Hall.
The evenly-matched rivals swapped the lead six times, and the score was tied on seven occasions, in the first half and Saint Joseph's held a slim 38-37 lead going into the break. Bradford and Rue both tallied 11 points in the opening stanza.
The opening three minutes of the second half was reminiscent of the first period, as the teams traded leads three times during the span. With the score tied, 43-43, and 16:37 on the game clock, the Eagles went on a 10-0 run from which the Monks would not recover. MacKenzie, a 6'5," 220 pound forward, went on a tear with six points during the game-changing spell.
As it turned out, Husson would not relinquish even a share of the lead for the rest of the game. The feisty Monks would not go down easily, however, and kept the deficit to single digits and/or two possessions for most of the duration.
With 3:29 remaining, Husson held a game-high 12-point lead, 80-68, after the Eagles managed to go on a 6-0 microburst, but St. Joe's countered with a 14-5 run in the following 2:52 of play and trailed by three after Kelley drilled a three-pointer off an O'Brien dish.
With 37 seconds left, there wasn't much the Monks could do but foul and hope for some missed freebies. The Eagles didn't oblige, as Bradford, who was 9-10 from the charity stripe, and Phillip Leighton '13 (Naples, ME) combined to make all four of the Husson FT attempts down the stretch to help the Eagles hold off the Monks.
For the second consecutive game, O'Brien was nearly unstoppable, as the sophomore swing man was 9-16 from the floor and 5-7 from the charity stripe in the loss. In the last two contests, O'Brien is shooting 60% (18-30) from the field.
With an offensive carom at the 14:10 mark of the first half, SJC forward Ray Eatmon '10 (Huntington, NY) became the 13th player in program history to reach the 600-rebound plateau. The senior captain grabbed 6 boards for the Monks and Rashon Jones '11 (Bridgeport, CT) added 8 points, 6 boards, 4 assists and 2 blocked shots in the loss.
St. Joe's shot 47.0% (31-66) from the floor, 31.3% (5-16) from three-point range, and 81.0% (17-21) from the line in the loss. Husson shot 44.1% (30-68) from the field, 46.7% (7-15) from beyond the arc, and 62.9% (22-35) from the FT line. The Monks held a 42-38 advantage on the glass.
St. Joe's will play at Emerson College on Saturday at noon in the Monks' GNAC opener, while Husson will host University of Maine-Fort Kent in the Paul Bunyan Classic on Friday at 8:00 PM.
Newspaper Box Score Husson vs St. Joseph's (Me.) 12/1/09 7:30pm at Harold Alfond Center At Harold Alfond Center HUSSON 89, ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) 84 HUSSON (2-2) Brock Bradford 8-19 9-10 28; Matt MacKenzie 12-18 4-7 28; Joshua Jones 4-9 1-4 10; Jay Uhrin 3-10 2-5 10; CJ Hodges 1-4 3-5 6; Phillip Leighton 1-4 2-2 4; Marc Zaharchuk 1-1 1-2 3; Jon Klages 0-1 0-0 0; Matt Cummings 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 30-68 22-35 89. ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) (3-1) Zach O'Brien 9-16 5-7 24; Chris Petzy 3-9 8-8 15; Tyler Kelley 6-14 0-1 14; Alberto Rue 5-7 3-3 13; Rashon Jones 3-6 1-2 8; Anthony Savino 2-6 0-0 4; Tom Ray 1-3 0-0 2; Ray Eatmon 1-4 0-0 2; Julio Vazquez 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 31-66 17-21 84. Husson........................ 37 52 - 89 St. Joseph's (Me.)............ 38 46 - 84 3-point goals--Husson 7-15 (Brock Bradford 3-6; Jay Uhrin 2-6; Joshua Jones 1-1; CJ Hodges 1-1; Phillip Leighton 0-1), St. Joseph's (Me.) 5-16 (Tyler Kelley 2-6; Chris Petzy 1-4; Zach O'Brien 1-4; Rashon Jones 1-1; Alberto Rue 0-1). Fouled out--Husson-None, St. Joseph's (Me.)-None. Rebounds--Husson 38 (Matt MacKenzie 10), St. Joseph's (Me.) 42 (Zach O'Brien 10). Assists--Husson 18 (Brock Bradford 5), St. Joseph's (Me.) 19 (Zach O'Brien 7). Total fouls--Husson 15, St. Joseph's (Me.) 22. Technical fouls--Husson-None, St. Joseph's (Me.)-None. A-434
