STANDISH, Maine – #8 Saint Joseph's College (8-17, 5-13 GNAC) will play at top-seeded Johnson & Wales University (23-2, 17-1 GNAC) in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Men's Basketball Tournament Quarterfinal contest in Providence tonight at 7:30 PM.
This evening's winner advances to the GNAC semifinals and will take on the victor of the #4 Anna Maria College/#5 Emmanuel College quarterfinal matchup on Thursday night. In other quarterfinal action tonight, #6 Mount Ida College plays at #3 Albertus Magnus College and #7 Suffolk University faces #2 Lasell College in Newton, Mass.
The GNAC Championship will be played on Saturday, February 27th. The higher seeded team hosts throughout tourney play and the conference champion earns an automatic berth into the 2016 NCAA DIII Men's Basketball Championship, which begins on March 3rd.
What have you done lately?
- The Monks enter the tournament having lost consecutive games with losses to Suffolk University and Anna Maria College in the final week of the regular season
- The Wildcats won both of their games last week – a 74-41 decision over Norwich University on Tuesday and an 89-69 triumph over Mount Ida College on Saturday
- Johnson & Wales suffered their only GNAC loss of the season on February 13th when reigning conference champion Albertus Magnus College defeated the Wildcats by a 102-94 margin
Who to watch – Saint Joseph's:
- Sophomore forward Quinn Richardson-Newton (Saco, Maine) leads the Monks in scoring (14.4 PPG), rebounding (6.3 RPG), field goals made (118), field goal percentage (45.2%), and free throws made (81)
- Senior guard Craig Luschenat (Boston, Mass.) leads the team with 51 three pointers made and is second in scoring (8.1 PPG)
- Freshman guard Ian Mileikis (Auburn, Maine) averages 8.0 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 2.4 assists per contest
Who to watch – Johnson & Wales:
- Senior Quarry Greenaway paces the Wildcats in scoring (26.0 PPG) and is shooting 55.1% (218-396) from the field and 73.9% (184-249) from the FT line
- Senior Tom Garrick averages 22.2 PPG and 6.5 RPG while shooting 49.4% (212-429) from the floor and 36.5% (65-178) from downtown
- Junior Anthony Jernigan contributes 10.2 PPG while shooting 51.3% (98-191) overall
The last time we met:
Johnson & Wales defeated Saint Joseph's, 82-61, in Standish on January 23rd; Greenaway led all players with 28 points while Garrick netted 24 in the triumph. Richardson-Newton scored a career-high 27 points with six rebounds and six assists and freshman forward Marc Corey (Londonderry, N.H.) chipped in with 13 points and five boards in the losing effort.
Historically speaking:
Saint Joseph's is 9-10 in the history of the series with Johnson & Wales University, which is currently ranked 14th nationally in the latest D3Hoops.com poll. JWU has defeated the Monks in each of the last five meetings dating back to the 2013-14 season. The Wildcats toppled the Monks by a 93-51 tally in Providence on January 5th.
