STANDISH, ME - Saint Joseph's (18-7, 12-6 GNAC) beat Lasell College (17-8, 14-4), the GNAC regular season champs, 81-74 on Saturday afternoon. Tyler Kelley '11 (Saco, ME) led a balanced SJC offensive attack, which featured six players with at least eight points, with 12 in the triumph. Elbie Murphy '09 (Loudonville, ME) grabbed six boards in the win to become just the third player in team history to reach 1,400 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists in their career. Lasers' guard Junior Sainval '09 (Miami, FL) made five three-pointers and netted a game-high 19 points in defeat.

With the win, St. Joe's clinches the #3 seed and will host #6 Rivier College (14-11, 9-9 GNAC) in GNAC quarterfinal matchup on Tuesday, February 24th, time TBA. Having already clinched the top spot earlier in the week with a win over #2 Emerson, Lasell will play host to #8 Norwich University (7-18, 5-13 GNAC) on Tuesday, time TBA.

The game signified the last regular season home contest for the six seniors on the Saint Joseph's roster: R.J. Mattison (Hamden, CT), Scot Vachon (Schenectady, NY), Elbie Murphy, Bobby Russo (Hartsdale, NY), Jay Tutwiler (Sarasota, FL) and captain Mitch Ouellet (Fort Kent, ME). All six players were recognized, along with their parents, with a ceremony at half court prior to tip off.

The fast-paced season finale, which featured four lead changes in the first ten minutes of play, started with baskets from Ouellet on consecutive SJC possessions as the Royal Blue led 4-0 after a minute of play. Lasell, coming into the game with the most potent offense in the GNAC (81.9 PPG), fired back in the subsequent four minutes by posting a 7-0 run, with the help of two buckets from Javon Williams '12 (Mattapan, MA).

Russo lifted the Monks to a 10-9 lead a minute later by draining three-pointers on successive trips down the floor, but the visitors displayed their offensive skills early and lead by seven - 19-12 - after Charles Horton '10 (Worcester, MA) connected on a shot from three-point distance with 11:41 left in the first half.

The complexion of the game changed in the following five-plus minutes, however. Sharpshooter Chris Petzy '12 (East Kingston, NH) drained a trifecta to counter the Horton hoop 14 seconds later and Vachon drove the lane for a bucket, was fouled, and proceeded to finish the three-point play and cut the deficit to 19-18 with 11:05 left in the first. Chris Davis '11 (New York, NY) made a jumpshot a minute later to give his team the lead, and Murphy connected on a long three-pointer, his 100th career longball, to continue the Royal Blue scoring barrage. The effort continued until the 6:06 mark when Chris Davis made a runner, created by a Murphy steal, to cap a 17-0 run and lift the Monks to a 29-19 lead.

The Monks managed to hold the league's top scorer, Lasers' forward Jose Guitian '09 (Miami, FL), without a basket until he connected on a short jumpshot with 5:50 to play in the first stanza. The basket from Guitian started a 7-2 surge byt the Lasers, which was topped by a freebie from Kevin Richard '12 (New Orleans, LA) and cut the SJC lead to 31-26 over two minutes later.

The Royal Blue countered with a 7-2 run of their own to close out the first stanza. Petzy made his second trey of the contest at the 2:15 mark to start the run, while an Alberto Rue '10 (Jamaica Plain, MA) bucket closed it out with 11 seconds left as the Monks headed to the locker room with a 38-28 lead.

St. Joe's managed to maintain at least an eight-point advantage for the first 15 minutes of the second half and had ballooned the lead to a game-high 19 after Anthony Savino '11 (Portland, ME/Cheverus) went coast to coast and made a nifty layup over the outstretched hands of Guitian with 9:48 left. The Lasers weren't about to go down easy, however. A pair of free throws from Williams capped a 16-4 outburst in the next 4:36 of play and saw the SJC lead shrink to 70-63.

The Monks had several opportunities to pad their cushion, but a 5-9 performance from the line in the closing minutes kept the door open for the Lasers and the final minute proved dicey for the hosts. Kelley netted a layup with 31 seconds left to give St. Joe's a 79-68 lead, but the ever-dangerous Guitian proceeded to connect on long three-pointers on the next two Lasell possessions, cutting the SJC lead to just five points - 79-74 - with only five seconds on the clock. Murphy was fouled on the subsequent home possession and made both freebies to put the game out of reach for the Lasers.

As a team, St. Joe's shot 50.8% (31-61) from the field and 9-17 (52.9%) from three-point distance. Lasell went 26-71 (36.6%) from the floor, with over half of the bids coming from beyond the arc (12-36, 33.3%). The 36 attempts from three-point range are the most an SJC opponent has attempted in a game this season. The Monks held a slim 42-39 advantage in rebounds in the win.

For St. Joe's, Ray Eatmon '10 (Huntington, NY) collected his 8th double-double of the year with 13 boards and 10 points and Rue and Petzy both added nine points. Vachon and Murphy tallied eight points apiece and Chris Davis and Russo each had six in the triumph.

Murphy posted an all-around effort, registering six rebounds, five assists, three blocks and three steals to go with his eight points. His defensive rebound with 2:27 remaining in the second stanza gave him exactly 500 boards in his career and placed him on a short list of players to net 1,400 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists while donning the Royal Blue. SJC Hall of Famers Jeff Creech '86 (2,202-642-417) and John Wassenbergh '96 (2,095-718-307) are the only two others to have achieved the feat at Saint Joseph's.

For Lasell, Guitian had 16 points and 11 rebounds, Brad Caravouias '09 (Dracut, MA) netted 15, and Williams posted a 10-point effort. Richard recorded a game-best 10 dimes in defeat.

Newspaper Box Score
Lasell College vs St. Joseph's (Me.)
02/21/09 3:00 PM at Standish, Maine
At Standish, Maine
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) 81, LASELL COLLEGE 74
LASELL COLLEGE (17-8, 14-4 GNAC)
Junior Sain val 7-17 0-0 19; Jose Guitian 5-15 4-4 16; Brad Caravoulias 6-17
0-0 15; Javon Williams 3-6 4-4 10; Corey Godfrey 2-6 0-0 4; Kevin Fallon 1-3
1-2 4; Charles Horton 1-4 0-0 3; Kevin Richard 1-3 1-6 3; Sean Joynes 0-0
0-0 0; Joey Vento 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 26-71 10-16 74.
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) (18-7, 12-6 GNAC)
Tyler Kelley 5-8 0-0 12; Ray Eatmon 4-8 2-7 10; Chris Petzy 3-5 0-1 9;
Alberto Rue 3-4 2-2 9; Elbie Murphy 2-12 3-3 8; Scot Vachon 3-5 2-3 8; Chris
Davis 3-4 0-0 6; Bobby Russo 2-2 0-0 6; Mitch Ouellet 2-3 1-2 5; Anthony
Savino 2-4 0-0 4; R. J. Mattison 1-4 0-0 2; Alonso Davis 1-2 0-0 2; Jay
Tutwiler 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 31-61 10-18 81.
Lasell College................ 28 46 - 74
St. Joseph's (Me.)............ 38 43 - 81
3-point goals--Lasell College 12-36 (Junior Sainval 5-13; Brad Caravoulias
3-11; Jose Guitian 2-5; Kevin Fallon 1-3; Charles Horton 1-4), St. Joseph's
(Me.) 9-17 (Chris Petzy 3-4; Bobby Russo 2-2; Tyler Kelley 2-3; Elbie Murphy
1-4; Alberto Rue 1-1; R. J. Mattison 0-2; Mitch Ouellet 0-1). Fouled
out--Lasell College-None, St. Joseph's (Me.)-None. Rebounds--Lasell College
39 (Jose Guitian 11), St. Joseph's (Me.) 42 (Ray Eatmon 13). Assists--Lasell
College 17 (Kevin Richard 10), St. Joseph's (Me.) 14 (Elbie Murphy 5). Total
fouls--Lasell College 17, St. Joseph's (Me.) 15. Technical fouls--Lasell
College-None, St. Joseph's (Me.)-None. A-225