BOSTON, MA - The Saint Joseph's College Monks used a balanced scoring attack to cruise to a 92-70 victory over the Suffolk University Men's Basketball team on Thursday evening in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) action.
Eleven different players would register on the score sheet for the Monks, highlighted by a 27-point effort from senior Matthew Medeiros (Westport, Mass.), as Saint Joseph's finished the evening shooting 55.2-percent (32-for-58) as a team from the field.
It was a back and forth start to the first half as sophomore Jake Meister (Madison, N.J.) connected on a three-pointer at the 6:07 mark to make it a 27-27 contest. The Monks would go on a 10-3 run over the next three minutes when a dunk by senior Nicholas Jobin (Westbrook, Maine) pushed the Saint Joseph's edge to seven points, 37-30.
A three pointer by Suffolk junior guard Matt Powers (Westwood, Mass.) would answer, but the Monks continued their hot streak going on another run, this time scoring nine straight points, before a Medeiros three-pointer would give them a 49-36 edge heading into the break.
The Monks would shoot 63-percent from the floor in the first half as a team (17-for-27), including a 4-for-8 effort by Medeiros from three-point land.
Saint Joseph's would come out quick out of the break as Medeiros nailed a trio of three-pointers to start the second half in a two minute span, as he finished the game 7-for-11 from long range.
Freshman Frantz Pinard (Arlington, Mass.) led Suffolk with 13 points on the evening, as he was 5-for-9 shooting from the field. Junior Sam Nwadike (Houston, Texas) finished with 12 points and a game-high five assists.
The loss snaps a short two game win streak for Suffolk as they fall to a 3-5 overall mark on the year, and 1-1 in conference play.
Jobin finished the evening 10-for-15 from the floor as he poured in 24 points, rounding out the double-double as he led all players with a personal season-high 13 rebounds in the contest.
Saint Joseph's held a 38-31 edge on the glass in the contest and also controlled the game in the paint outscoring the Rams 32-18 down low.
Junior Zach Blodgett (Glenburn, Me.) recorded 11 points on the evening on 4-for-7 shooting, while sophomore Craig Luschenat (Boston, Mass.) added 10 points with a 4-for-6 effort from the field.
The win improves to Monks to 3-4 on the young season, as they are perfect in GNAC at a 2-0 mark.
Meister finished the evening with a team-high five boards for Suffolk as both he and Powers each scored eight points a piece. Sophomore Caleb Unni (Winchester, Mass.) was 6-for-9 from the free-throw line en route to a nine-point evening.
Both teams will be back in GNAC action on Saturday afternoon. The Monks will travel down to Rivier University for a 1:00pm tip-off with the Raiders. Suffolk travels to Albertus Magnus College for a 4:00pm matchup.
COURTESY OF SUFFOLK UNIVERSITY SPORTS INFORMATION
GAME NOTES:
Saint Joseph's is now 10-2 in the history of the series with Suffolk University…the Rams defeated the Monks in the last meeting – a 77-68 decision in Boston on December 1st, 2012…the 92-point tally is the second-highest total St. Joe's has ever posted against the Rams…including tonight's win, the Monks are 123-65 all-time versus opponents from Massachusetts…with a 55% clip in a win over JWU on Tuesday, Saint Joseph's has now shot 55% or better in back to back games for the first time since the Royal Blue posted wins over UNE (60%) and Becker College (55.6%) on December 5th and 7th, 2001, respectively…the Monks have not scored more than 92 points in a game since the team defeated Norwich University by a 96-74 margin on February 6th, 2010…Drew Baker, John Crawley, Danny Fitzgerald and Sean Ford made their NCAA debuts in the victory…Luschenat surpassed the 100-point plateau for his career and now has 107 points over 30 contests…Crawley, Davis Tucker, Andrew Ruffin all netted their first points of the 2013-14 campaign while Fitzgerald pulled down three rebounds on the night…up next: Saint Joseph's plays at Rivier University on Saturday…the Monks are 10-3 in the history of the match-up and have defeated the Raiders in nine-consecutive meetings dating back to the 2008-09 season.
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 430-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
