STANDISH, Maine – Anna Maria College (7-13, 4-3 GNAC) topped Saint Joseph's College (8-12, 2-4 GNAC), 81-64, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball contest at the Harold Alfond Center on Tuesday evening.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

With the help of a game-opening 18-5 run, the visiting AMCATS held the lead for all but the first minute and headed into halftime with a 40-30 advantage.

Trailing 50-35 five minutes into the second stanza,  the Monks mounted a 9-2 surge to cut their deficit to single digits (52-44), but Anna Maria responded with 12 unanswered points and held a 64-44 cushion after junior forward Simon Berry (Londonderry, N.H.) converted a layup with 9:13 on the clock and maintained a double-digit lead for the remainder of play.

STATS OF THE GAME:

Anna Maria shot 62.7% (37-59) from the floor while St. Joe's posted a 40.4% (21-52) clip from the field…The AMCATS outscored the Monks in the paint by a 54-14 margin.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Sophomore guard Nicholas Curtis (Windham, Maine) scored the Monks' first 14 points and ended the evening with 35 points, three rebounds, and three steals
• Junior guard Jack Casale (Portland, Maine/Cheverus) added 10 points, three boards, and five assists

LEADERS – ANNA MARIA:

• Junior guard Ralph Grasso, Jr. (Marlborough, Mass.) scored 22 points off a 9-for-13 shooting effort and added three rebounds and three assists
• Senior center Mike Rapoza (Charlton, Mass.) was 10-for-14 from the field with 20 points and eight rebounds
• Senior guard Bobby Perette (Marshfield, Mass.) chipped in with 19 points and nine rebounds

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the loss, Saint Joseph's falls to 11-10 all-time versus Anna Maria College, a team the Monks had defeated in five-consecutive meetings prior to tonight's contest.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's travels to Connecticut Saturday for a 3:30 PM conference matchup at University of Saint Joseph.

$website.include("/bp")