BOSTON, Mass. – Junior guard Jack Casale (Portland, Maine/Cheverus) scored 39 points and grabbed nine rebounds to help launch Saint Joseph's College (11-13, 5-5 GNAC) past Suffolk University (13-11, 5-5 GNAC), 90-78, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball contest on Tuesday evening.
With their third-consecutive conference win in hand, the Monks have clinched a GNAC Tournament berth with one conference game remaining. Saint Joseph's will host Lasell University on Saturday at 3:00 PM.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The Rams held a nine-point cushion (56-47) after Jonathan Eng hit a three-pointer with 15:21 left in the second stanza, but the Monks turned the tide for good with an impressive 25-9 run over the following eight minutes to claim a 72-65 advantage. Casale capped the run when he knocked down a three at the 7:24 mark and netted 18 points during the game-changing offensive outburst.
Suffolk attempted to post a comeback bid, but Saint Joseph's made 11 of 12 shots taken from the free-throw line to thwart the hosts' chances.
Suffolk led by as many as nine points late in the first half, but St. Joe's closed out the half with a 13-5 run and trailed 42-41 heading into intermission.
STATS OF THE GAME:
The Monks made 86.4% (19-22) of their free-throw attempts while the Rams went 5-for-7 (71.4%) from the charity stripe in the losing effort.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Casale led all players with 39 points and was 9-for-10 from the FT line with nine rebounds, two assists, and a pair of steals
- Junior guard Tatsuaki Sakai (Ishikawa, Japan) netted 15 with four boards, four assists, and three steals
- Sophomore guard Nicholas Curtis (Windham, Maine) added 12 points and was 5-for-5 from the charity stripe
- Freshman Drew Shea (Mount Desert Island, Maine) came off the bench to tally 10 points and eight rebounds over 23 minutes
LEADERS – SUFFOLK:
- Max Bonney-Liles led the Rams with 12 points and added two steals and a pair of assists
- Eng, Thomas Duffy, and Brendan Mulson contributed nine points apiece
- William Rowe, Nate Hale, and Alex Jacovides dropped eight points apiece
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the win Saint Joseph's improves to 17-7 all-time versus Suffolk University, a team that entered tonight's contest having defeated the Monks in each of the last three meetings. The victory is the Monks' first at Suffolk since December 3rd, 2016.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's wraps up the regular season Saturday with a home game versus GNAC-rival Lasell University. Tip-off is slated for 3:00 PM.
