STANDISH, Maine – Johnson & Wales University (9-7, 1-1 GNAC) rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit to defeat Saint Joseph's College (6-9, 0-1 GNAC), 84-74, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball action at the Harold Alfond Center on Saturday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Monks led for the better part of the first half and recorded an 11-0 run in the two minutes leading up to intermission to claim a 41-30 cushion. St. Joe's maintained the lead until the 6:28 mark of the second half, when the Wildcats grabbed a 63-61 edge with a Nate Patenaude (Smithfield, R.I.) layup on the heels of a 25-7 outburst.

Saint Joseph's tied the tilt twice in the subsequent four minutes and faced no worse than a two-possession deficit until the 3:10 mark, when Patenaude drilled a three-pointer to extend his team's advantage to eight points (75-67), a cushion that proved to be insurmountable for the Monks.

STATS OF THE GAME:

Johnson & Wales held the lead in rebounds (56-37), second-chance points (26-11), points in the paint (36-22), and free throws made (18-9) on the afternoon.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Sophomore guard Nicholas Curtis (Windham, Maine) scored 20 points with eight rebounds and three assists
• Junior guard Jack Casale (Portland, Maine/Cheverus) tallied 15 points and five boards
• Sophomore guard Griffin Foley (Portland, Maine) added 15 points, three assists, and a pair of caroms
• Sophomore guard Zac Manoogian (Westbrook, Maine) came off the bench to score 11 points
• Junior guard Tatsuaki Sakai (Ishikawa, Japan) chipped in with 10 points, eight assists, and four rebounds

LEADERS – JOHNSON & WALES:

• Patenaude led all players with 37 points off a 14-for-22 shooting effort and added five rebounds and three assists
• Junior guard Justin Bullock (Spring Valley, N.Y.) tallied 16 points, six rebounds, and five assists
• Senior guard Brian Hogan-Gary (Staten Island, N.Y.) registered a double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds and dealt five assists
• Sophomore guard Bryan Davis (Miramar, Fla.) pulled down 18 rebounds – including eight on the offensive glass – and scored seven points

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the setback, Saint Joseph's falls to 12-15 all-time versus Johnson & Wales University.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's will host Colby-Sawyer College on Tuesday in a GNAC contest slated to begin at 7:00 PM.

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