STANDISH, Maine – Senior guard Jack Casale netted 32 points and pulled down a career-high 21 rebounds to help lift Saint Joseph's College (1-0) past UMaine-Augusta (2-2), 72-56, at the Harold Alfond Center on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
The contest was close early as the Maine-based foes traded the lead five times in the opening five minutes, but the final swap – as it played out – occurred at the 15:07 mark, when Casale dunked over a pair of UMaine-Augusta post players and completed a traditional three-point play with a freebie to make it a 9-7 game.
The visitors remained within striking distance and trailed by four (18-14) after junior Nathaniel Henderson (Miami, Fla.) notched a three-point play of his own with 12:07 before the break. The game quickly turned however, as the UMA shooters went cold making just three of 19 attempts from the floor over the subsequent 11 minutes, a span during which SJC posted a 22-9 run en route to earning a 40-23 advantage with 1:47 left in the opening half.
Ahead by 15 (43-28) at intermission, Saint Joseph's proceeded to claim a game-high 23-point (59-36) lead when junior David Keohan (West Newfield, Maine) converted a layup with 14:34 remaining in the contest.
The Moose immediately countered with an 11-0 run as a Henderson bucket made it a 59-47 game with 8:37 left, but the visitors would get no closer as Casale scored eight of the Monks' final 13 points to help his team seal the victory.
STATS OF THE GAME:
The Monks went 15-for-42 (35.7%) from three-point distance while the Moose answered with a 3-for-14 (21.4%) performance from downtown…Saint Joseph's held a 59-38 lead in rebounds with 15 boards on the offensive glass.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Casale kicked off the season in style with the impressive double-double effort, the 26th of his career, and was 5-for-12 from three-point distance
- Junior Nicholas Curtis (Windham, Maine) went 6-for-11 from downtown with 18 points, six assists and four rebounds
- Junior Griffin Foley (Portland, Maine) contributed 13 points, seven caroms, and two assists
- Sophomore Ashtyn Abbott (Farmingdale, Maine) came off the bench to pull down six rebounds
- Senior Patrick Kelly (Charlestown, Mass.) chipped in with four assists and a pair of rebounds
LEADERS – UMAINE-AUGUSTA:
- Henderson scored 17 points with eight rebounds
- Freshman Sam Martin (Milford, Maine) added eight points with eight boards and a pair of assists
- Senior Israel Brown (Ridgewood, N.J.) came off the bench to score nine points
- Junior Eric Crawford (South Seattle, Wash.) tallied seven points, three rebounds, three blocks, and two steals
NOTEWORTHY:
Today's contest was the Monks' first since St. Joe's suffered a GNAC Tournament quarterfinal loss on February 25th, 2020, a span of 375 days…with today's scoring output, Casale becomes the seventh player in SJC men's basketball history to surpass the 1,600 career-point plateau – through 78 contests the senior guard has scored 1,613 points.
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 3-0 all-time versus UMaine-Augusta, a team the Monks had not faced since February 10th, 1971 heading into today's matchup.
NEXT!
The Monks will host the Moose again tomorrow at 3:30 PM. No spectators are allowed, but fans can watch live on www.gomonks.tv.
