Monks Come Up with 78-67 Men's Basketball Victory

STANDISH, ME -  Saint Joseph's (10-2, 5-1 GNAC) shot a season-high 58.8% (30-51) from the field and Zach O'Brien '12 (Schenectady, NY) poured in a career-best 29 points in a 78-67 victory over GNAC-rival Lasell College (4-8, 2-4 GNAC) at the Alfond Center on Saturday afternoon.

Tyler Kelley '11 (Saco, ME) added 15 points, Ray Eatmon '10 (Huntington, NY) notched 9 points, 7 caroms and 5 points, Rashon Jones '11 (Bridgeport, CT) tallied 7 points, 9 boards and Anthony Savino '11 (Portland, ME/Cheverus) chipped in with 8 points and 3 steals in the SJC victory.

Javon Williams '12 (Mattapan, MA) paced the Lasers with a double-double effort of 26 points and 11 caroms and Charles Horton '10 (Detroit, MI) contributed with 9 points and 7 dimes in the losing effort.

Saint Joseph's held a lead for the vast majority of play, as the Lasers' on lead of the game came early in the opening stanza. The Monks vanquished the Lasell led, which stood at 7-4 after Lance Theard '13 (New Orleans, LA) hit a three-pointer 1:20 into the game, with a commanding 18-4 run over the next four minutes of play. Kelley accounted for seven points during the SJC surge, which was capped by an O'Brien bucket at the 14:37 mark and put the Monks ahead, 22-11.

Unwilling to go down easily, the Lasers answered by outscoring the hosts by a 17-6 margin over the next seven minutes and tied the game at 28 apiece when Williams hit a jumper with 6:58 to go in the first half. Kelley scored five points over the next two minutes to help the Monks rebuild the lead, as the Royal Blue carried a 44-37 cushion into intermission.

To start the second half, Horton drained a three-pointer and Williams connected on a jumpshot to cut the deficit to 44-42 after 34 seconds of play. St. Joe's took control of the game with a 16-5 outburst, in which Savino scored all 8 of his points, and went on to gain a game-high 18-point lead with 5:15 remaining.

St. Joe's shot 58.8% (30-51) from the floor, 37.5% (3-8) from three-point range, and 60% (15-25) from the line, while Lasell shot 41.5% (27-65) overall, 25% (7-28) from beyond the arc and 46.2% (6-13) from the stripe. The Monks outworked the Lasers on the glass by a 40-30 margin in the victory.

Both teams will host GNAC opponents on Monday, as Saint Joseph's will take on Albertus Magnus at 7:00 PM and Lasell is set to host Emmanuel at 8:00 PM.

 Article courtesy of St. Joseph's Maine Sports Information.