STANDISH, Maine – #2N Saint Joseph's College (14-11, 10-7 GNAC) will host #3S Regis College (14-11, 10-8 GNAC) in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament Quarterfinal on Tuesday at 7:30 PM.

OVERVIEW:

Tonight's victor advances to the semifinal round and will face the winner of another quarterfinal matchup between #4N Anna Maria College and #1S University of Saint Joseph – on Thursday, time TBD. The higher seed serves as host throughout tourney play.

The winner of the GNAC Championship game earns an automatic berth into the 2023 NCAA DIII Men's Basketball Championship, which begins on March 3rd.

BRACKETOLOGY:

Tuesday, February 21 - QUARTERFINALS

GAME 1: #4S JWU at #1N Emmanuel - 5:30PM
GAME 2: #3N Colby-Sawyer at #2S Albertus Magnus - 7:30PM
GAME 3: #3S Regis at #2N Saint Joseph's Maine - 7:30PM
GAME 4: #4N Anna Maria at #1S St. Joseph CT - 7:00PM

Thursday, February 23 - SEMIFINALS

GAME 5: Game 1 winner vs Game 2 winner
GAME 6: Game 3 winner vs Game 4 winner

Saturday, February 25 - CHAMPIONSHIP

GAME 7: at highest remaining seed

SEASON AT A GLANCE:

Saint Joseph's:

• The Monks lead the conference in three pointers made (11.0) and attempted (31.1) per game as well as assists average (17.5) and rank third in the GNAC in points (1,971) scoring average (78.8), FG% (46.0%), and 3FG% (35.5%)
• Six different SJC players are averaging at least 6.5 points per game, including four who average north of 10.0 PPG
• Saint Joseph's has made 10 or more three-pointers in 18 different games this winter
• St. Joe's has won six of the last eight games
• The Monks are 10-1 and average 82.1 PPG in home games this season

Regis College:

• The Pride rank second in the conference in opponents' FG% (41.0%), fourth in opponents' 3FG% (31.0%), and fifth in FT% (67.9%), 3FG attempted per game (22.6) and rebounding average (38.2)
• Five Regis players contribute at least 8.4 PPG, including three with double-digit averages
• The Pride have won seven of their last nine games
• Regis is 5-7 and averaging 67.3 PPG in 12 road games this winter

PLAYERS TO WATCH:

Saint Joseph's:

• (#20)Graduate student guard Griffin Foley (Portland, Maine) leads four Monks in double-digits with 14.8 points per game and ranks among the GNAC leaders in assists (106, 3rd), field goals made (135, 7th), points (371, 9th), and scoring average (14.8, 9th)
• (#35) Senior forward Ashtyn Abbott (Farmingdale, Maine) averages 12.2 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 1.7 assists per game and ranks 10th in the conference in FG% (51.9%)
• (#24) Freshman guard John Paul Frazier (York, Maine) is averaging 12.2 PPG and leads the GNAC – and ranks fourth in NCAA DIII - with a 48.6% (54-111) 3FG%
• (#3) Graduate guard Nicholas Curtis (Windham, Maine) is netting 10.7 PPG and ranks third in the GNAC in three-pointers made (58); he recently became the Monks' all-time leader in three-point field goals made (315)

Regis College:

• (#20) Sophomore forward Russell Rau (Fitchburg, Mass.) is averaging 16.3 PPG and leads the conference in defensive rebounds (166); he also ranks second in FT% (85.1%), third in rebounding average (8.3) and total rebounds (214), and fifth in points
• (#2) Senior forward Devante Thompson (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) contributes 10.9 PPG, 4.0 RPG, and 2.1 APG
• (#23) Freshman forward Jamir Harvey (Robbins, Ill.) averages 10.0 PPG and 5.0 RPG and ranks fifth in the GNAC in FG% (56.1%)

ATTITUDE REFLECTS LEADERSHIP:

Saint Joseph's: Tyler Ackley – 2nd season (23-29, .442)

Tyler Ackley was named as the fifth head coach in the history of the Monks Men's Basketball program in September 2021. After overseeing the Royal Blue to a 9-18 overall record – and a 2-9 mark in home games – last season, Coach Ackley has led the Monks to their first over-.500 record since 2019 and a much-improved 10-2 mark at the Harold Alfond Center.

Ackley comes to Saint Joseph's from Colby College, where he served as The John "Swisher" Mitchell Assistant Coach for four years and, in 2020, helped lead the Mules to their first-ever NESCAC Championship game appearance, as well as their first NCAA Tournament berth in 23 years.

Prior to his time at Colby, Coach Ackley was a three-year assistant coach at Nebraska Wesleyan University, where he recruited and coached seven players who combined to earn 14 all-conference honors, including a Jostens Award winner, three D3hoops.com All-Americans and the Conference's Most Valuable Player and NCAA Division III Final Four MVP.

Regis College: Nathan Hager – 16th season (175-216, .448)

Nathan Hager has been the head men's basketball coach at Regis since the program began in 2007.

Tabbed as the first Men's Basketball Coach at Regis in November of 2006, the Franklin, Penn., native promptly led the first-year program to a competitive campaign in 2007-2008 with a 9-16 record. Hager quickly turned the Pride into a winning program, finishing the 2010-11 season with a 15-12 record and appearances in The Commonwealth Coast Conference and Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference post-season tournaments.

Coach Hager led the Pride to a New England Collegiate Conference Championship and the program's first NCAA Tournament berth in 2015.

THE LAST TIME WE MET (SJC 68, Regis 58 Standish 2/14/23):

These two teams met exactly a week ago on the Monks' home court, when the Monks closed out the opening frame with a 10-1 run to secure a 35-31 advantage heading into intermission.

The hosts posted their first double-digit lead of the night when sophomore guard Julian Llopiz (Boston, Mass.) made a three-pointer to make it a 47-37 game with 11:07 left. After netting eight unanswered points – including five from Teagan Hynes (York, Maine) – in a matter of two minutes, the Monks held a game-high 15-point (57-42) cushion with 7:07 on the clock.

Saint Joseph's proceeded to lead by at least 10 points for all but one Regis possession down the stretch and held off the Pride due in part to a 4-for-5 effort from the FT line in the closing 46 seconds.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

Saint Joseph's is 4-1 in the history of the series with Regis College.

GNAC TOURNAMENT HISTORY:

The Monks have never missed the GNAC Tournament in 15 seasons as a member of the conference and have won at least one postseason contest in nine of the last 11 trips. Saint Joseph's is 12-12 in GNAC tourney play with a GNAC Championship in 2009 and appearances in the title game in 2011 and 2014.

St. Joe's topped Johnson & Wales, 89-81, on the road in a GNAC first round game last winter before falling at top-seeded University of Saint Joseph, 95-45, in quarterfinal action.

The Pride are making their fourth postseason appearance in five seasons as a GNAC member and enter Tuesday's quarterfinal with a 1-3 record in GNAC postseason play.

Regis notched the first GNAC tourney victory in program history with a 66-59 first-round triumph over Colby-Sawyer last winter. The Pride then suffered a 99-89 quarterfinal defeat at the hands of perennial GNAC contender Albertus Magnus.

Previously, Regis fell to Lasell University and University of Saint Joseph in the 2018 and 2020 quarterfinals, respectively.