STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (4-4, 1-0 GNAC) overcame a sluggish start to defeat Colby-Sawyer College (3-5, 0-1 GNAC), 84-54, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball contest at Mike McDevitt Court on Saturday afternoon. The game was the 2022-23 conference opener for both teams.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Trailing 33-32 after a hard-fought first half, Saint Joseph's took control early in the second stanza as graduate guard Nicholas Curtis (Windham, Maine) drilled a pair of three-pointers in a matter of 20 seconds to cap a 26-6 run and provide the hosts with a 58-39 lead with 13:22 left.

Senior forward Ashtyn Abbott (Farmingdale, Maine) brought the crowd to its feet by dunking over a pair of Chargers at the 9:47 mark and put his Monks up by 23 (66-43) with a wide-open three-pointer from the top of the key 22 seconds later.

Momentum was in the Monks' favor thereafter as the Royal Blue went on to secure a game-high 35-point advantage when freshman forward Alex Willings (Portland, Maine) converted a layup with 1:20 on the clock.

Overall, Saint Joseph's outscored Colby-Sawyer by a 52-21 margin in the second period en route to posting the 84-54 victory.

STATS OF THE GAME:

The dominant second half was the story in today's victory, as St. Joe's shot 61.8% (21-34) and 54.5% (6-11) from the field and beyond the arc, respectively, in the closing 20 minutes while Colby-Sawyer made just 8-of-28 (28.6%) of their shots from the floor – including a 1-for-11 (9.1%) effort from downtown – in the closing half…The Monks also held a 40-22 lead in points in the paint and a 46-25 rebounding advantage with 16 offensive caroms on the afternoon.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Freshman John Paul Frazier (York, Maine) led all players with 16 points and was 7-for-11 from the field
• Abbott posted his second double-double of the season with 10 points and 12 rebounds
• Graduate guard Griffin Foley (Portland, Maine) was two boards shy of a double-double with 10 points and eight rebounds with three assists
• Curtis added 11 points with four assists and three rebounds
• Sophomore guard Teagan Hynes (York, Maine) chipped in with 12 points, four caroms, and three steals
• Senior forward Drew Shea (Mount Desert Island, Maine) netted nine points with four assists
• Senior guard Bryton Early (Rollinsford, N.H.) contributed five points and two rebounds in just four minutes
• Junior guard Camryn Yorke (Auburn, Maine) pulled down eight rebounds

LEADERS – COLBY-SAWYER:

• Senior guard Terrence Harvey, Jr. (Atlanta, Ga.) scored nine points with four rebounds and three assists
• Senior forward Omar Boone (Colorado City, Texas) came off the bench to net nine points with five boards and three steals
• Senior guard Scott Lampron (Concord, N.H.) added eight points and a pair of assists
• Senior forward Conor Kelly (Charlestown, Mass.) chipped in with six points and four rebounds

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the win Saint Joseph's improves to 4-4 all-time versus Colby-Sawyer College, a team that defeated the Monks by a 94-83 score in their last meeting, which took place in Standish on February 15th, 2022.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's resumes conference play next Saturday with a 4:00 PM contest at Lasell University.

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