NORTHFIELD, Vt. – Senior guard Nicholas Curtis (Windham, Maine) hit a jump shot with nine seconds remaining to propel Saint Joseph's College (7-14, 6-7 GNAC) past Norwich University (10-10, 5-7 GNAC), 79-78, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball action on Saturday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Norwich trailed by six (72-66) with 7:07 left in the second half but rallied with a 12-3 run, capped by a Donovan Lewis dunk and made free throw, to stake a 78-75 edge with one minute remaining. Senior guard Griffin Foley (Portland, Maine) converted a pair of free throws 29 seconds later to make it a one-point game and, after the Cadets missed a free throw attempt with 25 seconds left, the Monks milked the clock with Curtis hitting what proved to be the clincher at the nine-second mark.
Saint Joseph's held a game-high 13-point lead (30-17) with 7:38 left in the first half, but Norwich closed the gap with a 12-0 run over the following two minutes and 30 seconds. The teams traded leads several times in the closing minutes, but freshman guard Teagan Hynes (York, Maine) made two free throws with 41 seconds before the break, making it a 40-40 game going into intermission.
The second half featured six lead changes and three tie scores and neither team held a lead greater than seven points in the closing 20 minutes.
STATS OF THE GAME:
Both teams shot at least 50% from the floor, as the Monks posted a 50.8% (31-61) effort and the Cadets shot an even 50% (32-64)…St. Joe's was 8-for-8 from the FT line while Norwich shot 62.5% (5-8) from the charity stripe.
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
- Foley led all scorers with 23 points and was 5-for-8 from beyond the arc
- Curtis added 12 points, three rebounds, and three assists
- Hynes chipped in with 10 points, six boards, four assists, and two steals
- Senior forward David Keohan (West Newfield, Maine) scored 10 points and pulled down six rebounds
LEADERS – NORWICH:
- Senior forward Donovan Lewis, Jr. (Savannah, Ga.) came off the bench to score 22 points with three assists
- Sophomore guard Jalen Olivero (Holyoke, Mass.) netted 19 points with six rebounds, three assists, and three steals
- Senior guard Kyle Booth (Northfield, Vt.) tallied 10 points, seven boards, and three assists
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the win, Saint Joseph's improves to 21-6 in the history of the series with Norwich University, a team that defeated the Monks by an 85-75 margin in the last meeting, which took place in Standish on January 15th.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will play at Anna Maria College on Wednesday in a GNAC matchup slated to start at 7:00 PM.
