BOSTON, MA - Saint Joseph's (14-5, 9-3 GNAC) overcame a 16-point halftime deficit in a 62-60 victory over GNAC-rival Emmanuel College (4-15, 3-9 GNAC) on Monday evening. Chris Petzy '12 (Kensington, NH) paced four Monks in double-digits with 16 points in the triumph.

After trailing, 38-22, at the break, the Monks outscored the Saints, 40-22, in the second half to come away with the two-point win.  The Monks went 5 for 5 down the stretch en route to the victory. 

Alberto Rue '10 (Jamaica Plain, MA) netted 12 points with 6 rebounds and 3 steals and Ray Eatmon '10 (Huntington, NY) added 11 points for Saint Joseph's. Anthony Savino '11 (Portland, ME/Cheverus) chipped in with 10 points and 5 boards, Zach O'Brien '12 (Schenectady, NY) contributed with 8 points and 5 caroms and Julio Vazquez '13 (Waterbury, CT) notched career highs of 7 assists and 6 rebounds in his second career start.

For Emmanuel, Xavier Everson (Rochester, NY) led all scorers with 18 points and Isaiah Duke (Albany, NY) netted 16 in the losing effort. Eric Spanbauer (Niagara Falls, NY) grabbed 7 rebounds and Armani Gill (Boston, Mass.) dealt 5 dimes for the Saints.

The Monks first lead, not including the opening minutes of the game, was gained when O'Brien hit a pair of freebies with 40 seconds remaining. Petzy, who made his first career start in the win, drained his second three-pointer of the game 10 seconds before to set the stage for O'Brien's free-throws and Everson missed an open layup, and an opportunity to tie the game, as time expired.

The Monks kicked things off with a backdoor feed to Eatmon to start the game with a 2-0 lead.  A couple of slashing hoops from Everson, who scored 8 of Emmanuel's opening 10 points, put the Saints up 10-6 at the 15-minute mark.  Petzy knocked down a triple and the Monks cut the gap to 10-9.

A one-and-one by Nate Jackson (Middleboro, Mass.) and a baseline drive by Isaiah Duke (Albany, N.Y.) gave EC a 19-13 edge at the ten-minute mark.  Rookie swingman Patrick Ramsey (Easthampton, Mass.) came off the bench and drained a three to put the Saints up, 22-13.  Rue and Emmanuel forward Andre Fuller (Troy, N.Y.) traded buckets at each end, as the Saints led 24-15 with 8:30 left in the half.

After a Monks' put-back by Savino, the two teams played scoreless for over three minutes with Emmanuel up, 24-17 at the 5-minute mark.  Another lay-up by Everson and a deep jumper by Fuller gave the Saints an eleven-point lead (28-17) with four minutes to go in the half.

A steal by Gill led to a fast-break dunk by Duke and Emmanuel was up 32-22 with less than two minutes remaining.  Everson dropped two freebies and laid in a hoop on the break to stretch the Saints' lead to fourteen (36-22) with a minute left in the half.  A pair of free throws by Gill pushed the spread to 38-22 and Emmanuel took a 16-point lead into the break.

Everson led all scorers at the half with 16 points on 6 for 8 shooting from the floor, to go along with 4 rebounds and 3 steals.  Fuller and Gill each added 6 first-half points for the Saints.  Savino was the high-scorer for the Monks in the opening frame with 6 points.

The Saints shot 45.7% from the floor (16-35) in the first half and out-rebounded the Monks, 23-15.  Emmanuel forced the Monks into 9 turnovers and just 30.8% shooting, as St. Joe's hit just 8 field goals in the opening period.

Two hoops by Petzy were part of a 6-2 Monks' run to start the second half and Emmanuel called a thirty with 17:37 on the clock.  The Monks' run continued after the timeout and an and-one by Eatmon cut the Saint Joseph's deficit to eight points (44-36) with fourteen and a half minutes to play.  A lay-up by Karl Gonzalez (Worcester, Mass.) helped Emmanuel regain the double-figure lead (46-36) with 14:17 on the clock.

Over the next three and a half minutes, each team dropped a bucket and Rue connected on a pair from the line to bring the score to 48-40 at the 10-minute mark.  A put-back by Petzy and a fast-break lay-up by Rue cut the lead to four (48-44) and forced the Saints to call their final timeout with 9:08 to go.

Six-straight Emmanuel points from Duke put the Saints up 54-44 with 7:17 left.  Fouls down low sent the Monks to the line on consecutive possessions and cut the Emmanuel lead back to four (54-50) with 6 minutes remaining.  A runner in the lane by Vazquez brought the visitors to within two (54-52) at the 5-minute mark.

A hoop by Everson followed by a baseline jumper from Tony Carter-Hill (Baltimore, Md.) gave the Saints a 58-52 cushion with 3:30 to go.  A put-back by Eatmon brought the score to 58-54 and St. Joe's called a thirty to apply their full-court pressure.

No points were scored on either end over the next two minutes until Emmanuel fouled Rue behind the arc and sent him to the line for three tries.  The senior guard drained all three to cut EC's advantage to one point (58-57). Duke laid the ball in on the break and Petzy drilled a trey at the opposite end to tie the ballgame at 60-all with 54.2 seconds remaining.

After a full time-out by SJC, the Saints turned the ball over and Emmanuel committed a foul at mid-court, sending O'Brien to the line for a one and one.  The sophomore hit both to give the Monks a two-point lead (62-60) with 40 seconds left.  This was St. Joe's first lead since the opening minute of play and, despite possessions on both ends, this would hold up to be the final score of the game.

The Saints were unsuccessful on their next possession and St. Joe's hauled in the defensive board with 20 seconds left.  Emmanuel picked up full-court and forced the Monks into a ten-second violation in the back-court.  The Saints regained possession with 8 ticks left. Everson got a great look, but his shot rolled around the rim and out, as the Monks picked up the come-from-behind win.

Emmanuel will return to GNAC action on the road this Thursday night in New Haven, Connecticut.  The Saints will take on the Falcons of Albertus Magnus College in a 7pm start. St. Joe's will travel to Suffolk (5-14, 1-11 GNAC) on Thursday for a 7:30 PM tip.

COURTESY OF EMMANUEL COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION

Newspaper Box Score
St. Joseph's (Me.) vs Emmanuel College
2/1/10 7pm at Jean Yawkey Center - Boston, Mass.
At Jean Yawkey Center - Boston, Mass.
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) 62, EMMANUEL COLLEGE 60
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) (14-5, 9-3 GNAC)
Chris Petzy 6-17 2-3 16; Alberto Rue 3-14 6-8 12; Ray Eatmon 4-5 3-6 11;
Anthony Savino 5-7 0-0 10; Zach O'Brien 3-12 2-2 8; Julio Vazquez 2-5 0-0 4;
Eric Friend 0-0 1-2 1; Craig Merrick 0-1 0-0 0; Tom Ray 0-0 0-0 0. Totals
23-61 14-21 62.
EMMANUEL COLLEGE (4-15, 3-9 GNAC)
Xavier Everson 8-14 2-2 18; Isaiah Duke 7-15 2-3 16; Andre Fuller 3-5 0-0 6;
Armani Gill 2-9 2-2 6; Nate Jackson 2-4 1-1 5; Patrick Ramsey 1-4 0-0 3;
Eric Spanbauer 1-2 0-0 2; Karl Gonzalez 1-2 0-0 2; Tony Carter-Hill 1-4 0-0
2; Andrew Heath 0-1 0-0 0; Michael Mailhot 0-2 0-0 0; Torrey Joyner 0-3 0-0
0. Totals 26-65 7-8 60.
St. Joseph's (Me.)............   22   40  -   62
Emmanuel College..............   38   22  -   60
3-point goals--St. Joseph's (Me.) 2-14 (Chris Petzy 2-5; Alberto Rue 0-4;
Zach O'Brien 0-4; Craig Merrick 0-1), Emmanuel College 1-10 (Patrick Ramsey
1-2; Armani Gill 0-1; Karl Gonzalez 0-1; Tony Carter-Hill 0-1; Andrew Heath
0-1; Michael Mailhot 0-2; Torrey Joyner 0-1; Xavier Everson 0-1). Fouled
out--St. Joseph's (Me.)-None, Emmanuel College-None. Rebounds--St. Joseph's
(Me.) 38 (Alberto Rue 6; Julio Vazquez 6), Emmanuel College 47 (Eric
Spanbauer 7; Andre Fuller 7). Assists--St. Joseph's (Me.) 15 (Julio Vazquez
7), Emmanuel College 18 (Armani Gill 5). Total fouls--St. Joseph's (Me.) 10,
Emmanuel College 16. Technical fouls--St. Joseph's (Me.)-None, Emmanuel
College-None. A-250