NASHUA, NH - Zach O'Brien '12 (Schenectady, NY) collected an offensive rebound and tossed in a put-back with 8-tenths of a second remaining to lift Saint Joseph's (12-4, 7-2 GNAC) over Rivier College (4-12, 1-8 GNAC) in a GNAC Men's Basketball matchup on Tuesday evening. Alberto Rue '10 (Jamaica Plain, MA) led four SJC players in double-digits with 18 points off a 5-7 effort from the field and a 7-8 performance from the line.

O'Brien and Chris Petzy '12 (Kensington, NH) both notched 15 points and 6 caroms and Anthony Savino '11 (Portland, ME/Cheverus) added 10 points, all in the first half. Rashon Jones '11 (Bridgeport, CT) contributed 9 points and Ray Eatmon '10 (Huntington, NY) collected 9 boards and 4 assists, both team-highs.

The Raiders were led offensively by Nick Bean '11 (E. Longmeadow, MA), who poured in 25 points off a 10-14 effort from the floor, including a 5-8 mark from beyond the arc, in the losing effort. Joe Granato '12 (Arlington, MA) added 15 points and Don Poitras '11 (Bow, NH) notched a double-double with 13 points and 11 boards for Rivier.

The closely-contested conference game featured 14 lead changes, with 12 of those swaps occurring in the second stanza. The Monks managed to lead for the majority of the first half, as the Royal Blue shot 51.4% (18-35) from the floor while holding the hosts without a free-throw attempt in the opening period.

Rivier held a three-point lead, 13-10, after five minutes of play, but the Monks mounted a 7-0 outburst, capped by an O'Brien layup at the 13:21 mark, to take a 17-13 edge. St. Joe's held an advantage for the remainder of the first half and carried a 45-37 advantage into the halftime break.

O'Brien opened the second half with a layup to provide the Monks with the largest lead either team would attain, 47-37, 12 seconds in.

Trailing by 9 after Eatmon made a freebie at the 18:34 mark, the Raiders netted a trio of treys and blanked the Monks, 11-0, over a four-minute span to take a 50-48 lead. Bean made the first two three-pointers and Granato hit a two-pointer and a three, at the 14:34 mark, to provide his team with the lead.

Rivier led 56-53 after Luke Brownell '10 (Hubbardston, MA) hit a field goal, but St. Joe's proceeded to go on a 9-0 run, with six from Petzy and a trey from Rue, to gain a 62-56 cushion with 9:49 remaining in regulation.

The Monks held at least a three-point lead for the subsequent four minutes, but a three-pointer by Granato with 5:44 left knotted the game at 67-apiece.

Eight lead changes ensued before the final buzzer rang, as the teams traded punches on virtually every trip down the floor. Rue drained both FT attempts on the next SJC possession to put the Monks up by two, but Bean connected on his fifth, and final, three-pointer of the night to put the hosts up, 72-71, with 5:03 to go. Neither team led by more than one point over the closing five minutes of play.  

As time was winding down, O'Brien got a shot off with just over two seconds on the clock and missed wide right, but followed his shot, grabbed the rebound and hit the put back with only 8-tenths of a second left to give the Monks a 77-76 lead.  The Raiders tried a full court pass to get a final shot off, but failed to convert as time expired.

St. Joe's shot 46.8% (29-62) overall, 54.5% (6-11) from three-point range, and 76.5% (13-17) from the FT line, while Rivier shot 50% (30-60) from the field, 42.9% (9-21) from beyond the arc and 87.5% (7-8) from the charity stripe. The Monks outworked the Raiders on the glass, 34-27, and scored 35 bench points in the victory.

Both teams will host GNAC opponents at 7:30 PM on Thursday, as the Monks will square off against Emerson (11-5, 8-1 GNAC) and the Raiders will face Norwich (10-6, 5-4 GNAC).

Newspaper Box Score
St. Joseph's (Me.) vs Rivier
01/26/10 7:00 PM at Nashua, NH - Muldoon HFC
At Nashua, NH - Muldoon HFC
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) 77, RIVIER 76
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) (12-4, 7-2 GNAC)
Alberto Rue 5-7 7-8 18; Chris Petzy 6-12 0-1 15; Zach O'Brien 6-18 2-3 15;
Anthony Savino 5-7 0-0 10; Rashon Jones 3-6 3-3 9; Tyler Kelley 3-6 0-0 7;
Julio Vazquez 1-2 0-0 2; Ray Eatmon 0-4 1-2 1; Tom Ray 0-0 0-0 0. Totals
29-62 13-17 77.
RIVIER (4-12, 1-8 GNAC)
Nick Bean 10-14 0-0 25; Joe Granato 6-14 0-0 15; Don Poitras 4-7 5-6 13;
Chris Foley 3-3 2-2 8; Will Snider 2-9 0-0 4; Bryant Mills 2-6 0-0 4; Brian
Troy 1-1 0-0 3; Mike Polley 1-1 0-0 2; Luke Brownell 1-3 0-0 2; Garon
Whitney 0-1 0-0 0; Elisha Robinson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 30-60 7-8 76.
St. Joseph's (Me.)............   45   32  -   77
Rivier........................   37   39  -   76
3-point goals--St. Joseph's (Me.) 6-11 (Chris Petzy 3-3; Alberto Rue 1-2;
Tyler Kelley 1-2; Zach O'Brien 1-3; Rashon Jones 0-1), Rivier 9-21 (Nick
Bean 5-8; Joe Granato 3-7; Brian Troy 1-1; Will Snider 0-4; Garon Whitney
0-1). Fouled out--St. Joseph's (Me.)-None, Rivier-None. Rebounds--St.
Joseph's (Me.) 34 (Ray Eatmon 9), Rivier 27 (Don Poitras 11). Assists--St.
Joseph's (Me.) 11 (Ray Eatmon 4), Rivier 14 (Nick Bean 5; Will Snider 5).
Total fouls--St. Joseph's (Me.) 10, Rivier 14. Technical fouls--St. Joseph's
(Me.)-None, Rivier-None.