NEW HAVEN, CT - Zach O'Brien's '12 (Schenectady, NY) pair of free throws with three seconds remaining proved to be pivotal for Saint Joseph's (16-6, 10-5 GNAC) in an 87-86 win over conference rival Albertus Magnus College (10-12, 6-9) on Tuesday night. The rookie's shots from the stripe put the Monks up by four before the Falcons tacked on a three-pointer at the buzzer. Elbie Murphy '09 (Loudonville, NY) shot 5-7 from three-point range and scored 24 points and O'Brien netted his first collegiate double-double with 19 points and 13 boards, both career highs. Ray Eatmon '10 (Huntington, NY) contributed with 14 points and 14 boards to notch his seventh double-dip of the season and Tyler Kelley '11 (Saco, ME) added 13 points in the triumph.

Falcons forward Ray Askew '12 (Hamden, CT) posted a double-double of his own with 19 points and 19 rebounds and Francisco Cordova '09 (Windsor, CT) scored a team-high 21 points in the loss.

With the score tied at seven apiece three minutes into the game, Eatmon hit a jumper to kick off a 10-0 run by the Monks. O'Brien converted jumpshots on three straight SJC possessions during the surge and Eatmon hit two free throws to cap the outburst with the Royal Blue leading 17-7 5:38 into the conference contest.

The Falcons cut the deficit to 17-16 three minutes later after Mike Barber '10 (West Haven, CT) connected on a field goal, but Murphy drained a shot from downtown 20 seconds later to lift the Monks to a 20-16 advantage with 10:41 remaining in the first half.

The game, which featured nine lead changes, was far from over, however. Alberto Rue '10 (Jamaica Plain, MA) converted a three-point play with 7:34 remaining in the opening stanza to give St. Joe's a nine-point lead, but the Falcons countered by outscoring the Monks 14-3 in the subsequent three-plus minutes to take the lead. At the end of the run, Askew hit a free throw to cap a three point play and tie the game at 35 apiece and Mike Torres '12 (Jersey City, NJ) made a jumpshot with 4:01 left. The Torres jumper provided the Falcons with a 37-35 advantage, their first lead since the early minutes of the half.

Although a Murphy jumper six seconds later tied the game, Saint Joseph's did not regain the lead until nearly halfway through the second stanza. To close out the half, SJC forward Anthony Savino '11 (Portland, ME/Cheverus) connected on a shot with 19 seconds left cut the AMC lead to 44-41, but Barber countered with a jumper seven seconds later to give his team a 46-41 lead going into halftime.

The Falcons had their largest lead of the game, 48-41, after Walden St. Juste '11 (Hartford, CT) made a jumpshot 32 seconds into the second half, but Murphy sank a trey on the following SJC possession and Eatmon scored on consecutive trips down the floor to cut the AMC lead to 52-50 three minutes afterward.

Cordova's three-point play at the 16:28 mark lifted the Falcons to a 55-50 edge, but a bucket by Monks' captain Mitch Ouellet '09 (Fort Kent, ME) opened up an 8-2 surge that saw the Royal Blue take a 58-57 lead after Eatmon hit a shot over a minute later.

Albertus Magnus managed to put together a 7-0 run to regain the lead, ignited by an Askew dunk at the 14:51 mark, and held a 64-58 advantage after a Cordova jumper just over a minute after.

The Monks followed with what proved to be a game changing sequence. Chris Davis '11 (New York, NY) drilled a jumper with 12:47 remaining to incite a 16-3 run as St. Joe's went on to gain a 76-67 lead after Kelley's basket seven minutes later. Kelley hit a shot from downtown at the 11:26 mark to provide the Royal Blue with a 65-64 edge as part of the run and scored eight points during the SJC surge.

Although St. Joe's did not trail again in the hard-fought contest, Albertus Magnus certainly made things interesting in the closing minutes. The Monks led 78-70 after a Davis bucket with 4:06 to play, but the Falcons proceeded to go on a 10-3 run and trailed by just one point, 81-80, after Cordova connected on a jumpshot with 55 seconds left. On the subsequent St. Joe's possession, Eatmon drove the lane and dished to an open Davis, who finished the play with a triumphant dunk to put his team up 83-80 with 26 seconds remaining in regulation.

Seven seconds later, Eatmon blocked a Barber bid and Kelley collected the carom, was fouled, and made both shots from the line as the Monks led 85-80 with 12 seconds to go. Barber sank a three-pointer six seconds later to keep his team's hopes alive, but O'Brien's free throws made it a two-possession game, fouls notwithstanding. Unfortunately for the Falcons, Byron Reaves' '12 (Hamden, CT) three-pointer at the buzzer was deemed inconsequential as a result, as the Monks headed for the bus with a gripping 87-86 win.

St. Joe's outshot Albertus Magnus 49.2% (31-63) to 38.6% (32-83) from the field and 53.3% (8-15) to 28.1% (9-32) from three-point range in the win. Neither team was particularly successful from the charity stripe, as the Monks went 17-28 (60.7%) and the Falcons shot 13-22 (59.1%) from the line. The Monks grabbed a season-high 53 rebounds, but also committed a year-high 22 fouls in the win. The 86 points scored by the Falcons is the most the Monks, the conference leader in scoring defense with 67.0 points per game allowed, have given up this season.

Of note for St. Joe's, Murphy's 24 points ranks as his highest total this season and gives him 1391 for his career, the 10th highest total in program history. With nine more points, he will become the 10th SJC men's basketball player to crack the 1400-point plateau. With his rebound at the 15:09 mark of the first half, Eatmon became the 15th player in team history to reach 500 rebounds in his career. With 512 career caroms, the junior currently ranks 14th all-time and his career average of 7.0 boards per contest (73 games) ranks 9th all time. His current rate of 9.3 rebounds per game ranks as the fourth highest single-season average in program history.

The Monks (16-6, 10-5 GNAC), currently in third place in the league, are slated to play at #2 Emerson College (15-7, 11-4 GNAC) on Saturday, February 14th at 1:00 PM.

Newspaper Box Score
Saint Joseph's College (Me.) vs Albertus Magnus
02/10/09 7:00 PM at Albertus Magnus College "The Nest"
At Albertus Magnus College "The Nest"
SAINT JOSEPH'S COLLEGE (ME.) 87, ALBERTUS MAGNUS 86
SAINT JOSEPH'S COLLEGE (ME.) (15-6, 9-5 GNAC)
Elbie Murphy 7-15 5-8 24; Zach O'Brien 7-13 5-6 19; Ray Eatmon 6-10 2-4 14;
Tyler Kelley 4-7 2-2 13; Chris Davis 4-8 0-0 8; Alberto Rue 2-4 1-3 5; Mitch
Ouellet 1-3 0-1 2; R. J. Mattison 0-1 2-2 2; Anthony Savino 0-0 0-0 0;
Alonso Davis 0-1 0-2 0; Eric Friend 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-63 17-28 87.
ALBERTUS MAGNUS (10-11, 6-8 GNAC)
Francisco Cordova 7-9 7-10 21; Ray Askew 8-19 3-5 19; Mike Barber 4-13 3-4
12; Byron Reaves 4-7 0-0 12; Walden St. Juste 5-13 0-2 12; Mike Torres 2-6
0-0 5; Bobby Leonzo 2-9 0-1 5; Andrae Beckford 0-0 0-0 0; Adam Hovan 0-2 0-0
0; Alex Muniz 0-0 0-0 0; Matt Maya 0-2 0-0 0; John Donahue 0-2 0-0 0; Ryan
Butler 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 32-83 13-22 86.
Saint Joseph's College (Me.).. 41 46 - 87
Albertus Magnus............... 46 40 - 86
3-point goals--Saint Joseph's College (Me.) 8-15 (Elbie Murphy 5-7; Tyler
Kelley 3-6; Eric Friend 0-1; Zach O'Brien 0-1), Albertus Magnus 9-32 (Byron
Reaves 4-5; Walden St. Juste 2-6; Mike Torres 1-3; Bobby Leonzo 1-6; Mike
Barber 1-6; Matt Maya 0-2; John Donahue 0-1; Ryan Butler 0-1; Ray Askew
0-2). Fouled out--Saint Joseph's College (Me.)-None, Albertus Magnus-None.
Rebounds--Saint Joseph's College (Me.) 53 (Ray Eatmon 14), Albertus Magnus
50 (Ray Askew 19). Assists--Saint Joseph's College (Me.) 15 (Zach O'Brien 4;
Elbie Murphy 4), Albertus Magnus 18 (Mike Barber 5). Total fouls--Saint
Joseph's College (Me.) 22, Albertus Magnus 19. Technical fouls--Saint
Joseph's College (Me.)-None, Albertus Magnus-TEAM. A-135