Monks Outlast Beavers, 59-57

FARMINGTON, ME - Saint Joseph's improved to 2-0 with a 59-57 victory over University of Maine-Farmington (0-3) in men's basketball action on Monday evening. The Monks, who led for almost the entire game, were paced by Tyler Kelley '11 (Saco, ME) with 16 points off a 4-5 performance from three-point distance.

The only UMF advantage came when Eric Taylor '11 (Oakland, ME), who netted a game-high 22 points in the loss, scored the game's first basket 1:35 after the opening whistle, but the pesky Beavers never trailed by more than nine points and tied the game at 55-55 late in the second half.

A layup by Kevin Leary '11 (Manchester, ME) with 3:30 to go tied the game at 55-apiece, but Alberto Rue '10 (Jamaica Plain, MA) provided the Monks with some breathing room with a three-pointer from the wing at two minutes later. Taylor made a layup 29 seconds later to cut the SJC lead to 58-57.

Zach O'Brien '12 (Schenectady, NY) was fouled with two seconds on the clock and the sophomore guard hit his first freebie, but his second rattled the rim and was rebounded by Beavers' guard Eric Lelansky '10 (Portland, ME). UMF quickly called a timeout to set up one last play, which resulted in Leary taking a last-second shot, which actually went in, but was too late as the horn sounded split seconds before the ball went through the cylinder.

Julio Vazquez '13 (Waterbury, CT), making his first collegiate start, tied the game at two-apiece off an Anthony Savino '11 (Portland, ME/Cheverus) dish at the 18:04 mark of the first stanza. The Monks' next nine points came off three-pointers, two from Kelley and one from Chris Petzy '12 (Kensington, NH), but UMF kept the pace and trailed 11-9 after an Andrew Dean '11 (Gorham, ME) layup with 13:20 left in the half.

From this point, St. Joe's went on a 12-5 surge and led 23-14 after Rue sank a pair of free throws at the 7:26 mark. UMF chipped away at the SJC lead with four freebies and a Dean bucket in the subsequent minute and trailed 29-25 heading into intermission.

Kelley's third three-pointer of the night put the Monks back up by nine, 43-34, with 14:26 to go, but the Beavers responded with eight unanswered points in the next three minutes of play. An O'Brien layup at the 6:17 mark put the visitors up by seven, but UMF surged back again with a 9-2 run, which was capped by Leary's jumpshot that tied the game with 3:30 remaining.

Rue's clutch basket from beyond the arc followed and the Beavers were unable to counter, as Saint Joseph's escaped with a 59-57 triumph.

St. Joe's shot 45.3% (24-53) from the field, 42.9% (6-14) from three-point range, and 83.3% (5-6) from the line in the victory. Petzy scored 9 points, Ray Eatmon '10 (Huntington, NY) added 8 points and 4 steals and Rue netted 7 points and 5 caroms for the Monks. Savino chipped in with 6 points while O'Brien and Kelley both grabbed 5 boards.

UMF shot 42.3% (22-52) from the floor, 22.2% (4-18) from beyond the arc, and 90% (9-10) from the FT line in a losing effort. Dean chipped in nine points, Leary scored eight points with three blocked shots and Josh Tanguay '10 (Gorham, ME) snared a game-high 10 rebounds.

Prior to tonight's game, St. Joe's had dropped three straight games to Maine-Farmington. The Monks' last victory over the Beavers occurred nearly three years ago to the day, as St. Joe's defeated UMF 64-41 on November 21^st, 2006 at the Harold Alfond Center.

Saint Joseph's will host Southern Maine on Sunday, November 29^th at 7:30 PM while Maine-Farmington is set to visit Colby College on December 3^rd at 7:00 PM.

Newspaper Box Score
St. Joseph's (Me.) vs Me.-Farmington
11/23/09 7:00 pm at Farmington, Maine
At Farmington, Maine
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) 59, ME.-FARMINGTON 57
ST. JOSEPH'S (ME.) (2-0)
Tyler Kelley 6-9 0-0 16; Chris Petzy 4-8 0-0 9; Ray Eatmon 3-6 2-2 8;
Alberto Rue 2-7 2-2 7; Anthony Savino 3-7 0-0 6; Zach O'Brien 2-9 1-2 5; Tom
Ray 2-4 0-0 4; Julio Vazquez 2-3 0-0 4. Totals 24-53 5-6 59.
ME.-FARMINGTON (0-3)
Eric Taylor 9-17 4-4 22; Andrew Dean 4-10 0-0 9; Kevin Leary 3-8 0-0 8; Eric
Lelansky 3-7 0-0 7; Josh Tanguay 3-4 0-0 6; DJ Gerrish 0-2 2-2 2; Mike
Gingras 0-0 2-2 2; Dan Kane 0-2 1-2 1; Tim Gingras 0-1 0-0 0; Roy Burdin 0-1
0-0 0. Totals 22-52 9-10 57.
St. Joseph's (Me.)............   29   30  -   59
Me.-Farmington................   25   32  -   57
3-point goals--St. Joseph's (Me.) 6-14 (Tyler Kelley 4-5; Chris Petzy 1-4;
Alberto Rue 1-4; Zach O'Brien 0-1), Me.-Farmington 4-18 (Kevin Leary 2-5;
Andrew Dean 1-7; Eric Lelansky 1-3; Dan Kane 0-2; DJ Gerrish 0-1). Fouled
out--St. Joseph's (Me.)-None, Me.-Farmington-None. Rebounds--St. Joseph's
(Me.) 26 (Alberto Rue 5; Tyler Kelley 5; Zach O'Brien 5), Me.-Farmington 31
(Josh Tanguay 10). Assists--St. Joseph's (Me.) 15 (Julio Vazquez 5),
Me.-Farmington 14 (Eric Lelansky 6). Total fouls--St. Joseph's (Me.) 13,
Me.-Farmington 10. Technical fouls--St. Joseph's (Me.)-None,
Me.-Farmington-None. A-225