Posted: Nov 13, 2015
BIDDEFORD, Maine – The Saint Joseph's College Monks opened up a 51-35 halftime lead and held off Hunter College in the closing stages to take an 88-81 men's basketball victory in the opening round of the Ramada Roundball Invitational hosted by the University of New England at the Harold Alfond Forum.
Junior John Crawley (Fitchburg, Mass.) tossed in a game-high 23 points to lead the way for the Monks (1-0). He was 4-for-8 from beyond the arc and added six rebounds. Classmate Andrew Ruffen (Salem, N.H.) scored 19 points of 7 of 11 shooting, and senior Craig Luschenat (Boston, Mass.) scored 13 points to go with six caroms. Senior Jerome Diggs (Washington, D.C.) played a solid all-around game, contributing team highs of 10 rebounds and six assists.
For the Eagles (0-1), senior Brian Kruger (Queens, N.Y.) had 21 points, five rebounds and four assists. Senior Robert Ashamole (North Brunswick, N.J.) scored 15 points, classmate Robert Borusiewicz (Queens, N.Y.) posted a double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds, and sophomore Alex Mattina (New York, N.Y.) added 11 points.
The Monks shot 51.6 percent for the game, including 54.8 accuracy in the first half.
Hunter turned around some cold shooting in the first stanza (34.2 percent) by converting 47.5 percent of its attempts after halftime.
St. Joe's will face Colby-Sawyer College in tomorrow's championship game at 3 p.m. The Chargers topped the host Nor'easters, 81-72, in the evening's first game. Hunter and UNE will play in the consolation game at 1 p.m.
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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 474-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.
