PROVIDENCE, R.I. - #9 Saint Joseph's College (9-17) tipped #8 Johnson & Wales University (10-14), 89-81, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball tournament first round contest on Tuesday evening.

PLAYOFF IMPLICATIONS:

With the win, Saint Joseph's advances to the quarterfinal round of the conference tournament and will play at top-seeded University of Saint Joseph tomorrow night at 7:00 PM. The reigning conference champion Blue Jays, ranked #5 nationally, capped the regular season with an unblemished 18-0 GNAC record and defeated the Monks, 84-72, in Standish last month.

For Johnson & Wales, the loss signals the end of the 2021-22 season.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

Solely in the lead for all but one JWU possession early in the first half, the Monks gained some breathing room with an impressive run, fueled by stellar three-point shooting, to claim a 19-point lead going into intermission. Clinging to a 33-27 edge with 6:25 remaining in the opening frame, four SJC players combined to make 5-of-6 shots from downtown as the visitors mounted a 21-8 surge and went into the locker room with a 54-35 cushion.

The Wildcats refused to go down without a fight and made things interesting in the closing minutes. Saint Joseph's led by 20 (68-48) after junior forward Ashtyn Abbott (Farmingdale, Maine) made a layup with 13:38 left, but the SJC shooters went cold for the next four minutes, a span during which JWU netted 15 unanswered points to make it a 68-63 game with 9:34 left.

The Monks regained a double-digit advantage with the help of senior guard Griffin Foley (Portland, Maine), who netted six points during a 10-2 run over the subsequent four minutes to lift his squad to a 78-65 lead with 5:12 on the clock.

In the closing minutes, Johnson & Wales managed to cut the St. Joe's advantage to single digits and trailed by just four points (85-81) after Josh Zangerle hit a jump shot with 30 seconds left, but the Monks held off the hosts by going 6-for-6 from the FT line in the final minute.

STATS OF THE GAME:

The Monks shot 78.6% (11-14) from the free throw line while the Wildcats went just 11-for-23 for a 47.8% mark from the charity stripe…St. Joe's also outshot JWU from beyond the arc, 48% (12-25) to 21.1% (4-19).

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Senior guard Nicholas Curtis (Windham, Maine) led the three-point parade by going 5-for-8 from downtown with a game-high 26 points, five rebounds, and four assists
• Foley netted 20 with three rebounds and a pair of steals
• Junior forward Drew Shea (Mount Desert Island, Maine) was 6-for-6 from the floor with 14 points
• Freshman Julian Llopiz (Boston, Mass.) came off the bench to score 11 points with two boards and two steals
• Abbott chipped in with seven points, five caroms, three assists, and two blocked shots

LEADERS – JOHNSON & WALES:

• Aireus Raspberry paced the hosts with 23 points
• Zangerle added 19 with four boards and three steals
• Bobby Fiorito contributed 12 points, six rebounds, and three assists
• Bryan Davis pulled down 12 rebounds with eight points and five assists

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 13-16 all-time versus Johnson & Wales University, a team that defeated the Monks by a 73-60 score just 10 days ago in Providence…For the Monks, the GNAC tourney win on the road is the team's first since 2019 – when SJC won a quarterfinal tilt at JWU, 83-80 – and just the second in the last nine years.

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