STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (5-5) shot past University of Southern Maine (7-4), 75-52, in a non-conference men's basketball contest at the Harold Alfond Center on Friday afternoon.

COSTELLO CUP:

With the win, Saint Joseph's reclaims the Costello Cup, which is presented annually to the winner of the rivalry matchup, as the coveted trophy returns to Standish for the first time since 2018. The Costello Cup is named in honor of the late Dr. Richard. "Doc" Costello, former USM Athletic Director and long-time basketball coach.

The Monks are now 19-14 in the history of the Costello Cup series, which began during the 1989-90 season.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Monks held the lead from tip-off to the final buzzer thanks in part to a 13-3 run – which included a 6-for-7 FT shooting effort - to start the contest. During the same six-minute span, the Huskies made 1-of-10 shots from the floor and committed four turnovers.

USM looked to recover from the sluggish start late in the opening half with a 9-0 surge, which was capped by a Jason Lombard (Anchorage, Alaska) bucket to make it a 29-20 game with 4:42 before the break. The visitors would get no closer to the lead however, as the hosts countered with a 13-4 run and headed into intermission with a 42-24 advantage.

The Monks proceeded to lead by at least 17 points during the remainder of the contest and held a game-high 31-point cushion (67-36) after freshman forward Wani Donato (Portland, Maine) made a free throw with 7:47 remaining.

MILESTONE MET:

With a layup made at the 11:31 mark of the first half, graduate guard Griffin Foley (Portland, Maine) became the 44th member of the Monks' 1,000-Point Club. Foley, who entered today's game four points shy of the milestone, connected on a three-pointer 1:09 into play and joined teammate Nicholas Curtis (Windham, Maine) as a 1,000-point scorer with the field goal less than 10 minutes later. Junior guard Camryn Yorke (Auburn, Maine) was credited with the assist on Foley's layup.

STATS OF THE GAME:

Saint Joseph's scored 29 points off 21 Southern Maine turnovers and went 11-for-32 (34.4%) from three-point distance in the victory…The Huskies tallied 13 points off 15 SJC turnovers and made only five three-pointers on 25 attempts for a 20% clip in the losing effort.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Foley led all scorers with 15 points and added three assists and a pair of rebounds
• Senior forward Ashtyn Abbott (Farmingdale, Maine) added 10 points, six boards, and a pair of assists
• Curtis contributed eight points, five rebounds, two assists, and a pair of steals
• Freshman guard John Paul Frazier (York, Maine) scored eight points with four caroms
• Yorke posted a solid performance with three points, seven assists, five rebounds, and two steals
• Senior forward Drew Shea (Mount Desert Island, Maine), sophomore guard Julian Llopiz (Boston, Mass.), and Donato chipped in with seven points apiece

LEADERS – SOUTHERN MAINE:

• Freshman Tommy Whelan (Bronx, N.Y.) led the Huskies with 12 points and pulled down five rebounds with three assists
• Senior Cody Hawes (Carmel, Maine) registered a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards and pilfered three steals
• Junior Simon Chadbourne (Westbrook, Maine) netted eight points with three rebounds
• Sophomore Juneau Anicette (Orlando, Fla.) contributed six points and five rebounds

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's will host Anna Maria College on Tuesday in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest slated to start at 7:00 PM.

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