STANDISH, ME - St. Joe's (6-1, 2-0 GNAC) outscored Johnson & Wales (1-5, 0-1) 48-35 in the second stanza to erase a three point halftime deficit and capture a 71-61 victory on Saturday evening at "The Lake." Monks forward Ray Eatmon '10 (Huntington, NY) scored a game-high 20 points and Zach O'Brien '12 (Schenectady, NY) added 14 points in the conference battle. Lamonte Thomas '12 (Providence, RI) led the JWU offensive attack with 14 points in the loss.

Monks forward Mitch Ouellet '09 (Fort Kent, ME) chipped in with 11 points and eight boards, Tyler Kelley '11 (Saco, ME) netted 11 points and Chris Davis '11 (New York, NY) collected 10 caroms and scored seven points in the victory. Collectively, St. Joe's converted 85.7% (18-21) of their free throw attempts in the game.

For the Wildcats, Robert Williams 12 (Danbury, CT) scored 10 points and Marcus Crenshaw 09 (Baltimore, MD) notched 10 boards, six points, three blocks and three steals.

It was all St. Joe's in the early going, as the home team led 8-2 after O'Brien took a lofted pass from Scot Vachon 09 (Schenectady, NY) for a tip in with 16:24 to play in the first. The Wildcats fired back with threes from Tavarius Roberson '12 (Orlando, FL) and James Folk '12 (Salem, NH) on back-to back possessions to knot the game at eight apiece and took the lead, 10-8, after Thomas converted a pair of free throws with 13:51 left in the half.

St. Joe's held a slim 19-16 lead with 7:56 to play in the first, but saw that lead disappear as Wildcats guard Darren Faust '11 (Queens, NY) scored seven points to pace a 10-4 JWU run to wind up the half with the visitors on top, 26-23.

The Monks shooters were much shaper in the second stanza and connected on 53.3% (16-30) of their shots after posting a paltry 31.3% mark from the field in the first half.

Down by three to start the latter stanza, St. Joe's shot 81.8% (9-11) from the field and outscored the Wildcats by a 18-7 margin in the first seven minutes of the second to stake a 44-33 lead. Eatmon poured in 10 points during the Royal Blue surge, which changed the face of the game.

The teams exchanged blows for the rest of the half, but the Monks didn't lead by fewer than five points for remainder of the game. Assisted by heady transition play and excellent free throw shooting down the stretch, the Monks cruised to a 71-61 victory and improved to 2-0 in conference play.

O'Brien (12 pts) and Kelley (9 pts) combined to score 21 points in the second half, as both played key roles in the fast-paced transition game for the Monks.

Saint Joseph's will travel to Bangor on Tuesday to take on Husson University in a 5:30 PM start while Johnson & Wales will host UMass. Dartmouth on Wednesday at 7:30 PM.

Newspaper Box Score
Johnson and Wales vs Saint Joseph's College (Me.)
12-06-08 5:00 PM at Standish, Maine
At Standish, Maine
SAINT JOSEPH'S COLLEGE (ME.) 71, JOHNSON AND WALES 61
JOHNSON AND WALES (1-5, 0-1 GNAC)
Lamonte Thomas 4-13 5-6 14; Robert Williams 5-11 0-2 10; Darren Faust 4-13
0-0 9; Justin Adams 3-10 0-0 8; Marcus Crenshaw 3-6 0-0 6; Tavarius Roberson
1-2 2-2 5; James Folk 2-7 0-0 5; Paul Nicholson 2-2 0-0 4; Calvin Jones 0-0
0-0 0; David Dale 0-1 0-0 0; Richard DiLascio 0-1 0-0 0; Xavier Lewis 0-1
0-0 0. Totals 24-67 7-10 61.
SAINT JOSEPH'S COLLEGE (ME.) (5-1, 2-0 GNAC)
Ray Eatmon 8-14 4-4 20; Zach O'Brien 6-12 2-3 14; Tyler Kelley 4-7 3-4 11;
Mitch Ouellet 4-7 3-3 11; Chris Davis 2-8 3-3 7; Chris Petzy 2-5 0-0 5; Scot
Vachon 0-3 3-4 3; Anthony Savino 0-1 0-0 0; Alberto Rue 0-3 0-0 0; R. J.
Mattison 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 26-62 18-21 71.
Johnson and Wales............. 26 35 - 61
Saint Joseph's College (Me.).. 23 48 - 71
3-point goals--Johnson and Wales 6-19 (Justin Adams 2-5; Tavarius Roberson
1-1; Darren Faust 1-4; Lamonte Thomas 1-5; James Folk 1-2; Robert Williams
0-2), Saint Joseph's College (Me.) 1-8 (Chris Petzy 1-2; Zach O'Brien 0-1;
Tyler Kelley 0-1; Mitch Ouellet 0-2; Chris Davis 0-1; Alberto Rue 0-1).
Fouled out--Johnson and Wales-Tavarius Roberson, Saint Joseph's College
(Me.)-None. Rebounds--Johnson and Wales 42 (Marcus Crenshaw 10), Saint
Joseph's College (Me.) 39 (Chris Davis 10). Assists--Johnson and Wales 10
(Justin Adams 3), Saint Joseph's College (Me.) 18 (Scot Vachon 5). Total
fouls--Johnson and Wales 18, Saint Joseph's College (Me.) 10. Technical
fouls--Johnson and Wales-TEAM, Saint Joseph's College (Me.)-None. A-200