Monks Soar Past Men's Basketball 75-63

STANDISH, Maine – The Lasell College men's basketball team suffered their first conference loss to Saint Joseph's College 75-63 at the Harold Alfond Center on Tuesday Evening. The Monks improve to 2-3 while the Lasers fall to 1-4.

Despite the loss, senior guard Angel Ortiz (East Lyme, Conn.) unleashed on the court with a game-high 32 points - including 23 in the second half alone. Junior forward Pat Marchand (Cranston, R.I.) added eight points and eight rebounds, while junior guard Richard O'Brien (Manchester, N.H.) chipped in with eight points. 

Monks senior guard Steve Simonds (Steep Falls, Maine) tallied 20 points, eight assists and five rebounds in what was the GNAC opener for both programs.

Saint Joseph's owned a 29-20 lead after shooting 59.1% (13-22) from the floor in the first half and connected on 75% (15-20) from the field in the second stanza to help hold off a pesky Lasell team. The Lasers shot just 25% (8-32), including a 1-16 effort from three-point range, in the first half but fought back into play by posting solid 40% (14-35) and 50% (7-14) efforts, from the floor and beyond the arc, respectively, in the second stanza.

The Monks appeared to have put the game to bed early, as the hosts registered a 16-2 run midway through the first half to secure a 25-7 advantage. Simonds capped the outburst with a jumper off a Jake Downing (Simsbury, Conn.) pass with 5:07 remaining in the first frame. The Lasers responded with a 13-4 run of their own, with Ortiz netting nine of his game-high 32 points, to cut the Lasell deficit down to a more manageable 29-20 tally at the break.

Freshman Quinn Richardson-Newton (Saco, Maine) led all first-half scorers with 10 points while Simonds totaled seven points in the opening 20 minutes for the Monks. Ortiz paced the Lasers with nine points in the first frame and Marchand added six points and six boards in the opening stanza.

Lasell began the second half with an 8-2 burst, as an O'Brien three-pointer cut the Monks' cushion down to 31-28 with 16:55 left. Again, Saint Joseph's looked to put the game on ice, this time by way of a 24-7 stretch, which spanned nearly nine minutes. The offensive surge was closed out by a Craig Luschenat (Boston, Mass.) layup on a fast break - a play set up by a Jerome Diggs (Washington, D.C.) steal and dish - which saw St. Joe's claim a game-high 20-point (55-35) advantage with 7:03 left.

Making one last push, the Lasers doubled up the Monks, 22-11, over the following five minutes, cutting the SJC lead down to 66-57 with 2:19 on the clock. Ortiz almost singlehandedly lifted the visitors back into the conversation by scoring 16 points during the offensive burst. Saint Joseph's managed to hold off the comeback-minded Lasers as five different players combined to make nine of 10 shots from the free throw line in the closing minutes.

For Saint Joseph's, Richardson-Newton scored a career-high 16 points while shooting 6-7 from the field and 4-4 from the stripe, Downing added nine points, sophomore John Crawley (Fitchburg, Mass.) netted seven with four boards in 10 minutes off the bench, and Diggs totaled six points, seven assists, three rebounds and a pair of steals in the victory.

Saint Joseph's dealt 24 assists on 28 field goals and held advantages in points in the paint (30-18), fast break points (12-0), and bench points (26-7) in the triumph. Lasell scored 21 points off 21 SJC turnovers while committing just 11 turnovers in the setback.

Both teams return to action facing conference opponents on Thursday, when Saint Joseph's plays at Emmanuel College at 7:30 PM and Lasell hosts crosstown rival Mount Ida College in a 7:00 PM tip-off.