STANDISH, Maine - #8 University of Saint Joseph (12-0, 7-0 GNAC) erased a two-point halftime deficit to defeat Saint Joseph's College (3-13, 2-6 GNAC), 84-72, in a hotly contested Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball game on Mike McDevitt Court at the Harold Alfond Center on Thursday night.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

In a game featuring 18 lead changes and six tie scores, the upset-minded Monks either led or maintained a two-possession shortfall for all but the final two minutes, when the Blue Jays went 8-for-8 from the free throw line to cap the contest with a game-high 12-point advantage.

The Monks held their largest lead, five points, after freshman Julian Llopiz (Boston, Mass.) closed out an 8-2 run to make it a 26-21 game with 7:41 left in the first half. The Blue Jays returned the favor by grabbing a five-point (38-33) edge of their own after Tyree Mitchell converted a three-point play five minutes later, but SJC closed out the half with seven unanswered points to earn a 40-38 lead going into intermission.

The Monks' two-point lead at the break marked the first time this season that the Blue Jays trailed after the first half. SJC's 40 points is also the most USJ has allowed in any half so far this winter.

The seesaw battle continued early in the second stanza, as Llopiz – who was fouled on a three-point attempt - made three freebies to lift his team to a 45-44 lead with 17:21 remaining. USJ proceeded to post a 10-0 run over the following three minutes to stake a 54-45 cushion, but SJC countered with a 9-2 outburst with a Nicholas Curtis (Windham, Maine) trey drawing the Monks within two points with 13:36 left.

The Monks' offense ground to a halt over the next five minutes, a span during which the hosts committed five turnovers and went 0-for-3 from the floor. The Blue Jays managed to score only five points during what was the messiest segment of the game, but SJC failed to take advantage by squandering eight trips down the floor.

Trailing 61-54 with 8:32 on the clock, the Monks made one final push with a 10-4 run as a Camryn Yorke (Auburn, Maine) layup saw the hosts draw within one point, 65-54, three minutes later. Unfortunately, St. Joe's was unable to regain the lead, as senior guard Ryan O'Neill (Litchfield, Conn.) drained a three-pointer to give his team a 68-64 advantage with 5:09 left and the Blue Jays held no less than a four-point cushion for the remainder of the game.

The Blue Jays did not claim their first double-digit lead until there was 1:17 left in the game when O'Neill hit a pair of free throws to lift his squad to an 80-69 advantage.

INSIDE THE BOXSCORE:

For the Blue Jays – ranked eighth nationally in this week's D3Hoops.com poll – the winning margin is the smallest of the season. USJ entered tonight's contest with an average winning margin of 29.2 points per game (32.7 versus GNAC foes) and their previous closest score was a 13-point win (75-62) over #11 Tufts University on November 20th.

STATS OF THE GAME:

University of Saint Joseph held a commanding 48-26 lead in points in the paint and was 13-for-13 from the FT line in the victory.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Senior guard Griffin Foley (Portland, Maine) led all scorers with 27 points – including 21 in the first half
• Llopiz came off the bench to score 20 points off a 5-for-7 three-point shooting effort and a 5-for-5 performance from the FT line
• Curtis poured in 19 points with three rebounds
• Junior forward Drew Shea (Mount Desert Island, Maine) pulled down nine rebounds and blocked four shots

LEADERS – UNIVERSITY OF SAINT JOSEPH:

• O'Neill paced the Blue Jays with 21 points and added four rebounds with two assists
• Senior Jordan Powell (Middletown, Conn.) netted 20 points and was 10-for-11 from the field
• Senior Jaecee Martin (Hartford, Conn.) was an all-around contributor with 14 points, nine boards, seven assists, three steals, and a pair of blocked shots
• Senior Tyree Mitchell (East Hartford, Conn.) came off the bench to contribute 10 points and five caroms
• Senior Chaylyn Martin (Hartford, Conn.) added 10 points and four assists

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the loss, Saint Joseph's falls to 1-3 all-time versus University of Saint Joseph.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's will play at Dean College on Saturday in a conference contest slated to start at 1:00 PM.