MEN'S BASKETBALL: USJ, Albertus Ready as GNAC Semifinal Hosts After Convincing Wednesday Wins

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

First Round - Tuesday, February 22
#9 Saint Joseph's Maine 89, #8 JWU 81
#5 Emmanuel 99, #12 Dean 69
#6 Norwich 65, #11 Rivier 63
#7 Regis 66, #10 Colby-Sawyer 59

Quarterfinals - Wednesday, February 23
#1 Saint Joseph CT 95, #9 Saint Joseph's Maine 45
#4 Anna Maria 62, #5 Emmanuel 55
#3 Lasell 69, #6 Norwich 57
#2 Albertus Magnus 99, #7 Regis 89

Semifinals - Friday, February 25
#4 Anna Maria at #1 Saint Joseph CT - 7:00 PM
#3 Lasell at  #2 Albertus Magnus - 7:30 PM

Championship - Sunday, February 27
final at highest remaining seed

#1 Saint Joseph CT 95, #9 Saint Joseph's Maine 45
WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The top-seeded University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's basketball team steamrolled the ninth-seeded Monks of Saint Joseph's College of Maine (SJC), 95-45, in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Quarterfinals inside the O'Connell Center Wednesday night.

With the victory, USJ, which is nationally-ranked No. 12, improves to 24-1 overall on the season, and will host fourth-seeded Anna Maria College in the GNAC Semifinals, played inside the O'Connell Center on Friday night, February 25, at 7:00 p.m. The game will be a rematch of the semifinal game between these two teams from the 2019-20 GNAC Tournament. The Blue Jays prevailed in that one, 94-79. For a look around the GNAC Tournament, please see below:

PLAYER QUOTE [Ryan O'Neill]
"[SJC] was playing that 3-2 zone, so I knew that corner three was going to be the open spot. My teammates did a great job of getting me the ball. I made as many as I could. It gives us another element to our game to make shots like that. The three isn't always our focus, but it does open up the drive for our other guys. [SJC] can play. The first time we played them up in Maine, they sort of gave us the same treatment, so we definitely needed to be ready to play today."

COACH QUOTE [Glen Miller]
"It was an outstanding performance on the defensive end, probably our best of the season. I thought we were well prepared, and the guys played extremely hard, we were connected defensively, and we were determined. It all started on the defensive end with our full-court pressure, and we carried that over into the half court."

The Blue Jays have won four straight GNAC Tournament games dating back to 2019-20, and are 6-2 in program history in postseason play (0-1 in NCAA Tournament).

Senior guard Ryan O'Neill (Litchfield, Conn.) was the high-man on the night with a playoff career-high 18 points. The Litchfield native tied a Blue Jays' playoff record with six made three-pointers (6-7 3FG). A pair of Blue Jays added 14 points a piece, including senior guard Chaylyn Martin (Hartford, Conn.), and senior forward Jordan Powell (Middletown, Conn.). 11 players scored in total for the hosts.

The Monks meanwhile struggled from the get-go. Nothing came easy Wednesday night for SJC behind the relentless perimeter pressure by the Blue Jays. Senior guard Nicholas Curtis (Windham, Maine) and senior guard Griffin Foley (Portland, Maine) entered the night the top scoring duo in the GNAC (37.5 PPG). Both were in the top five in scoring. They were held to a combined 13 points on 5-of-21 shooting (3-10 3FG), and both set season-lows in scoring on the night as a deep rotation of USJ guards harassed them from start to finish. Junior forward Drew Shea (Mount Dessert Island, Maine) was a bright spot for the Monks, scoring a team-high 11 points and hauled in six rebounds. The Monks though were held to just 45 points, the fewest USJ has allowed in a game all season.

USJ scored the first 16 points of the game, forcing seven early turnovers and opening the game up right away. Time and time again, Saint Joseph picked apart the Saint Joseph's 3-2 zone either with a perimeter three, or a pass to the foul line. USJ remained patient and wound up shooting better than 53% as a team from the field on the night. The hosts led 48-17 at the break, and would never look back.

USJ is 4-1 all-time against the Monks, including 2-0 in the playoffs. USJ has won the last four consecutive meetings, two of them by 40+ points.

UP NEXT
The top-seeded Blue Jays advance to the GNAC Semifinals for third straight season. They will once again host the AMCATS of Anna Maria College in the GNAC Semifinals on Friday, February 25 at 7:00 p.m. inside the O'Connell Center. Saint Joseph defeated Anna Maria in the 2020 GNAC Semifinals, 94-79. Tickets can be purchased here starting on Thursday morning, or fans can catch the action live on www.usjbluejays.com. 

Courtesy of USJ Athletics Communications.

#2 Albertus Magnus 99, #7 Regis 89
NEW HAVEN, Conn. – The second-seeded Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team defeated the seventh-seeded Pride of Regis (Mass.) College by a final score of 99-89 on Wednesday night inside the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) quarterfinal match-up.

Senior guard Davon Warner (New Haven, Conn.) led the Falcons' attack with 22 points behind 5-of-9 shooting from three-point range, while teammate Tyreek Perkins (New Haven, Conn.) finished the game with 18 points. Sophomore Kevin Crawford (Bridgeport, Conn.) was the next Falcon to score in double-digits with 13 followed by Justice Washington (Hamden, Conn.) who recorded a double-double behind 12 points and 15 rebounds. Senior Qualon Wilkes (Bridgeport, Conn.) rounded out the double-digit scorers with a 10-point effort.  

THE BASICS
FINAL: No. 2 Albertus Magnus 99 | No. 7 Regis (Mass.) 89
RECORDS: Albertus Magnus (16-6, 13-3 GNAC) | Regis (Mass.) (13-13, 9-9 GNAC) 
BOX SCORE

KEY HIGHLIGHTS
First Half:

• The first half featured a battle, as the teams played to nine ties and four lead changes.
• The Pride raced out to an early 7-3 lead before the Falcons stormed back with a 6-4 run to make it an 11-9 game with just over 17 minutes to play in the half.   
• Neither team was able to build a sizable advantage in the half, as Regis' largest lead sat at six and Albertus' largest advantage was four. 
• Warner and Perkins finished tied for the team lead in the half with nine points each.

Second Half: 

• After a back-and-forth start to the half, the Falcons pulled ahead by four points following a five-point run. 
• Perkins scored all five points in the surge behind a trey and two free throws. 
• Albertus caught fire at the 11:12 mark with the start of an 18-0 run to storm ahead by 22 points, 81-59, with 5:45 left. 
• Warner paced the Falcons in the half with 13 points, while Washington wasn't far behind with 10 points. 
• With a 20-points lead, the Falcons held on to secure a 99-89 victory in the GNAC Quarterfinals.

TEAM STATS 
Albertus – 48.4% FG |  52.6% 3PT |  74.4% FT
Regis – 50.0% FG |  30.0% 3PT |  75.0% FT

KEY PERFORMERS
Albertus:

• Davon Warner- 22 points (5-12 FG, 5-9 3PT, 7-9 FT) | 6 rebounds | 5 assists | 2 steals 
• Tyreek Perkins- 18 points (5-13 FG, 3-4 3PT, 5-6 FT) | 3 rebounds | 4 assists | 1 steals 
• Kevin Crawford - 13 points (4-5 FG, 5-8FT) | 2 rebounds | 1 steal | 1 block
• Justice Washington - 12 points (6-10FG, 0-1 3PT) | 15 rebounds | 2 assists | 1 steal | 6 blocks
• Qualon Wilkes- 10 points (2-6 FG, 2-5 3PT, 4-5 FT) | 2 rebounds | 2 assists | 1 steal | 1 block

Regis:

• Marc Trinidad- 35 points (15-23 FG, 1-2 3PT, 4-4 FT) | 2 rebounds | 4 assists | 1 steal 
• Jalil Wilkerson- 16 points (5-18 FG, 1-4 3PT, 5-7 FT) | 3 rebounds | 6 assists | 5 steals 
• Justin Evelyn- 14 points ( 6-10 FG, 2-4 3PT) | 3 rebounds | 4 assists | 1 steal
• Cameron Wilkins- 12 points (6-11 FG, 0-1 3PT, 0-1 FT) | 2 rebounds | 2 assists | 3 steals 
• Russell Rau- 10 points (4-7 FG, 2-5 3PT) | 12 rebounds | 4 assists | 1 steal | 3 blocks

NOTEWORTHY

• This is the sixth all-time meeting between the Falcons and Pride.
• The Falcons remain undefeated against the Pride, extending the all-time series record to 6-0.
• Albertus moves to 3-0 against Regis (Mass.) this season. 
• Albertus improves to 36-12 all-time in the postseason.
• This game saw 24 ties and 22 lead changes. 
• Washington had a career-high 15 rebounds. 
• Washington's double-double was his seventh of the season. 
• Warner has led the Falcons in scoring six games in a row. 
• Washington tied a career-high with six blocks. 

UP NEXT
The Falcons will challenge the third-seeded Lasers of Lasell University in the GNAC semifinals on Friday, February 25th at 7:30 PM inside the Cosgrove Marcus Messer Athletic Center.

Courtesy of Albertus Athletics Communications.

#3 Lasell 69, #6 Norwich 57
NEWTON, Mass. – The Norwich University men's basketball team saw their season come to an end on Wednesday night as the Cadets fell 69-57 to Lasell in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament Quarterfinals in the Lasell Athletic Center.

Freshman Owen Liss (West Suffield, Conn.) scored 13 points while coming off the bench, shooting 6-of-7, including knocking down his lone shot from three-point range. Donovan Lewis Jr. (Savannah, Ga.) added 10 points while pulling down six rebounds. Jaydon Cousin (Savannah, Ga.) and Jalen Olivero (Holyoke, Mass.) each scored eight points, while Kohlby Murray (Fair Haven Vt.) pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.

The Cadets jumped out to a 18-6 lead in the opening 5:25 of play. The Lasers were down 20-9 when a bucket by Kevin Vanderhorst sparked an eight-point run for Lasell to pull within three with 11:32 remaining.

After Vanderhorst knocked down a free throw to shrink the Cadet lead down to two, the teams held each other scoreless over 4:40 before Cousin knocked down a free throw at with 2:25 remaining to put the Cadets up 30-27. Norwich maintained the lead through the rest of the first half, closing the first frame out 34-31.

After scoring four straight points to start the quarter, Lasell took their first lead of the contest at 35-34. A bucket by Jonathan Frieberg with the Lasers up by two, sparked a 10-point run for Lasell as they took control of the contest with 14:20 remaining in regulation. Norwich cut the lead back down to five, but Lasell responded bringing it back to 10.

Norwich cut into the lead but was unable to overcome the deficit as they fell in the Quarterfinal matchup.

Norwich (15-12, 9-8 GNAC) had a year of milestones come to an end with the loss. Over the course of the season, Norwich saw a pair of 1000-point scorers with Kyle Booth and Lewis Jr. both reaching the milestone on Senior Day against Dean. Head Coach Paul Booth also reached a pair of milestones with his 350^th career victory and 300^th victory as the head coach at Norwich. Norwich also hosted their first GNAC Tournament contest this season since, 2010-11.

Courtesy of Norwich Athletics Communications.

#4 Anna Maria 62, #5 Emmanuel 55
PAXTON, Mass. - The Anna Maria College men's basketball team prevailed 62-55 against visiting Emmanuel College on Wednesday evening in the quarterfinals of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament at the Fuller Center in Paxton to advance into the conference semifinals.

THE BASICS:

• Date: Wednesday, February 23, 2022
• Score: Anna Maria 62, Emmanuel 55
• Records: #4 AMCATS of Anna Maria 15-10 | #5 Saints of Emmanuel 15-11             

TURNING POINT:

• After a hotly contested first half saw the AMCATS take a 31-26 lead going into the break, the second half featured more of the same as both teams traded the lead down the stretch in front of a capacity Anna Maria crowd.
• The critical moment came with 30.7 seconds left in the game with the AMCATS clinging to a two-point lead with leading scorer sophomore forward Gabe Armstead (Dallas, GA) going to the line to shoot two free throws. After burying the first, the rookie missed the second, as a packed crowd held their collective breaths as senior guard Kennedy Minix-Rogers (Smyrna, GA) drove into the paint to snatch the rebound away in an incredible display of athleticism, forcing he Saints to foul. The senior calmly made both shots to extend the lead to five, then buried two more with 2.5 seconds left to ice it after pulling in a rebound on the defensive end. 

HIGHLIGHTS:

• Emmanuel sophomore guard Donte Pope (Middletown, CT) concluded his dominant rookie season by carrying the Saints through much of the game, leading all scorers with 28 points including 19 in the first half. The first-year player also pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds with three assists and four steals, all while shooing 55.5 percent from the floor.
• Armstead led the AMCATS with 14 points, nine rebounds and three steals with one block.
• Minix-Rogers scored 13 points while dishing out six assists with five rebounds in another excellent overall performance.
• Playing in the final home game of his storied career, Anna Maria senior guard Ralph Grasso, Jr.(Marlborough, MA) finished with 11 points, four rebounds and a block at the top of the key on Pope late in the second half that inspired the AMCAT faithful.
• Anna Maria senior guard Hayden Braga (Foster, RI) pulled-down a team high ten boards while scoring two baskets including a home run play that saw him catch a full-court pass from sophomore guard Jakai Alexandre (Fitchburg, MA) and finish midway through the second half.
• Anna Maria enjoyed a 19-9 advantage in points off turnovers while outshooting the Saints 43.1 percent to 35.6 percent.                                                                                                                                             

UP NEXT:
Anna Maria now advances to the GNAC semifinals where they will travel to top-seeded University of Saint Joseph on Friday evening.

Courtesy of Anna Maria Athletics Communications.