STANDISH, Maine – Sophomore guard Nicholas Curtis (Windham, Maine) scored a career-high 36 points to help lead Saint Joseph's College (7-9, 1-1 GNAC) past Colby-Sawyer College (6-9, 0-2 GNAC), 98-83, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball contest at the Harold Alfond Center on Tuesday evening.
Curtis broke the Monks' record for three-pointers made in a game with 10 trifectas converted on 17 attempts from beyond the arc in the triumph.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Monks got off to a great start as a three-pointer off the fingertips of freshman Drew Shea (Mount Desert Island, Maine) lifted the hosts to a 12-2 cushion just two minutes into the game. With the help of the early success, St. Joe's was able to maintain the lead from the opening whistle to the closing buzzer.
Saint Joseph's went on to claim a game-high 25-point cushion (65-40) after junior guard Tatsuaki Sakai (Ishikawa, Japan) capped a 19-5 run with a three-pointer and 13:31 left in the second half.
STATS OF THE GAME:
Saint Joseph's shot 45.9% (17-37) from three-point distance and committed just 12 turnovers with 20 points off 19 Colby-Sawyer miscues…The Chargers made 8-of-25 (32.0%) attempts from downtown.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Curtis was 13-for-20 from the field and added four rebounds, three steals, and a pair of assists
- Junior guard Jack Casale (Portland, Maine/Cheverus) added 26 points, seven assists, six rebounds, and a pair of steals and was 7-for-7 from the FT line
- Sakai registered a double-double with 10 points and 11 assists and pulled down four boards
- Sophomore guard Griffin Foley (Portland, Maine) netted 10 points with four caroms and two steals
- Shea added six points and five rebounds and sophomore guard Zac Manoogian (Westbrook, Maine) chipped in with eight points
LEADERS – COLBY-SAWYER:
- Senior forward Patrick Coffey (Westford, Mass.) led the Chargers with 23 points and added four assists and three steals in the setback
- Senior center Dana Bean (Franklin, N.H.) was 9-for-10 from the field with nine rebounds, two assists, and two blocks
- Sophomore guard Terrence Harvey, Jr. (Smyrna, Ga.) and freshman forward Omar Boone (Colorado City, Texas) contributed 10 points apiece
BROKEN RECORD:
With his 10th three-pointer of the game - made with 1:03 left in the second half - Curtis surpassed Casale and Steve Simonds '15 for the Monks' single-game trifecta record. Simonds first set the mark with nine treys versus Rivier University on February 4th, 2015 and Casale matched the feat against University of New England on November 28th, 2018.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 2-3 all-time versus Colby-Sawyer College, a team that defeated the Monks by a 111-97 margin earlier this season in New London on November 9th.
NEXT!
Both teams resume conference play on Saturday, when Saint Joseph's plays at #21 Albertus Magnus College and Colby-Sawyer hosts Johnson & Wales University. Both GNAC tilts are slated to begin at 3:00 PM.
