MEN'S BASKETBALL: Albertus Advances to 11th Straight GNAC Championship, Earns Fourth Straight Title Tilt Versus USJ

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Courtesy of Albertus Athletics Communications

BOSTON, Mass. - The Albertus Magnus College men's basketball team continued its 11-season long streak of Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship appearances, knocking off the Saints of Emmanuel (Mass.) College in the semi-final round by a final score of 75-71. The Falcons continue their GNAC playoff quest on Sunday, February 26th, as the blue-and-white face-off against the No. 1 nationally ranked University of Saint Joseph (CT) in West Hartford, Conn., at the O'Connell Athletic Center.

Graduate forward Terry Dawkins (Bronx, N.Y.) led all players with a 27-point outburst, while Kevin Crawford (Bridgeport, Conn.) put together his best performance of the season with a 21-point showing.         

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Emmanuel opened the game with a quick 5-1 spurt before the Falcons responded with a speedy 7-0 run and a made basket from Crawford to take an 8-5 advantage at the 15:08 mark.  
• The team would trade baskets over the next four minutes, including four straight points from Dawkins, running the score to 12-9. 
• Following an Emmanuel timeout, the teams played tight defense and locked each other down before a pair of made free throws from Malcolm Duncanson (West Haven, Conn.) pushed the Falcon lead to 18-13 with 7:21 left to play in the first frame.   
• The squads traded baskets for the next few minutes until a Crawford lay-up sparked a 4-0 push from the Falcons, expanding the visitor's lead to 28-20 with 3:47 left in the first frame.  
• The Saints closed out the half with an explosive 7-2 run to make it a 30-27 contest, heading into the halftime break. 
• Emmanuel started the second half with the hot hand, racing out of the gate with a 15-7 run to take the lead, 42-37.   
• Albertus stormed back with an 11-2 run to retake the lead, 48-44. Antonio Bonilla (Tenafly, N.J.) scored five points for the Falcons, including a critical three-point swoosh at the 14:18 mark to tie the game at 44-all.  
• The Falcons continued to battle and force the Saints into mistakes, surging ahead 50-45 with a 6-1 run that included baskets from Dawkins, Bonilla, and Tazhon Daniels (New Haven, Conn.). 
• The Saints responded with a 6-3 run to make it a two-point game, 53-51, before Dawkins scored on a traditional three-point play to give Albertus the 56-51 advantage with 8:49 left to play.  
• The teams traded baskets and ran the score to 61-56 with 5:20 left on the clock before a flurry of free throws from both sides pushed the score to 63-58. 
• Albertus created a 5-0 run on a lay-up from Justice Washington (Hamden, Conn.) and a three-point play from Crawford to expand their advantage to 10, 68-58. 
• A 10-5 run from the Saints pushed the score to 73-68 with 20 seconds left on the clock and the anticipation on both sides building.  
• The teams traded foul shots from there, with the Saints desperately trying to make up lost ground, but to no avail, as the Falcons held on to secure the 75-71 semi-final victory and return to the championship floor for the 11th straight time.  

TEAM STATS
Albertus: 35.6% FG | 5.3% 3PT | 66.7% FT
Emmanuel (Mass.): 42.9% FG | 25.0% 3PT | 73.9% FT

PLAYER HIGHLIGHTS

Albertus:
Terry Dawkins - 27 points (9-21 FG, 0-1 3PT, 9-12FT) | 12 rebounds | 4 steals 
Kevin Crawford- 21 points (​​7-11 FG, 7-11FT) | 4 rebounds | 2 assists | 2 steals 

Emmanuel (Mass.):
Ryan Grijalva- 21 points (8-17 FG, 2-6 3PT, 3-6 FT) | 8 rebounds | 4 assists 
Donte Pope - 17 points (5-12 FG, 2-6 3PT, 5-8 FT) | 10 rebounds | 4 assists 
Bryant Ciccio - 14 points (3-7 FG, 2-6 3PT, 6-6 FT) | 1 rebound | 1 steal 

NOTEWORTHY

• Tonight's game marked the 41st all-time meeting between the Falcons and Saints.
• After tonight's win, the Falcons lead the all-time series 28-13. 
• Dawkins scored 20+ points for the ninth time this season.
• Crawford tallied a career-high in points with 21. 
• 2023 marks the fourth straight year that the GNAC will see the Falcons and the Blue Jays face off in the conference championship.   
• Albertus is heading to its 11th straight championship game appearance, just seven shy of Gonzaga University and Whitworth University championship appearances total of 18. 

Courtesy of USJ Athletics Communications

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The nationally-ranked No. 1 and No. 1 South seed University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's basketball team routed the visiting No. 2 North seed Saint Joseph's College (SJC) of Maine, 88-49, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) semifinal contest inside James A. Calhoun Gymnasium Friday night in West Hartford, Conn. The Blue Jays used a 17-2 run over the final five minutes of the first half to pull away from the Monks and cruised throughout the second half en route to the convincing semifinal victory.

With the win, the Blue Jays remain the lone undefeated team in Division III men's basketball on the 2022-23 season, improve to 27-0 overall, and advance to the GNAC Championship for the fourth time in as many seasons since the program's inception in 2018-19. The Monks conclude their season with an overall record of 15-12. The Blue Jays will host intrastate and conference rival No. 2 South seed Albertus Magnus College - who defeated No. 1 North seed Emmanuel College, 75-71, in the other semifinal game Friday evening - in the title game on Sunday at 1:00 p.m. Tickets to attend Sunday's game will go on sale 24 hours prior to tipoff at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday at www.usjbluejays.com/tickets . General admission tickets are $10.

Graduate student Ryan O'Neill (Litchfield, Conn.) continued his offensive tear of late and led the Blue Jays once again on Friday night, dropping a game-high 24 points against the Monks. He connected on 8-of-14 attempts from the field, including 2-of-7 from beyond the arc and was 6-of-6 from the free-throw line. O'Neill has netted 20+ points in USJ's last three-straight games and in five of the last seven. He was joined in double figures by senior's Jaecee Martin (Hartford, Conn), Delshawn Jackson Jr. (Hartford, Conn.), and Jalen Samuels (Franklin, Mass.). Martin finished with 14 points, while Jackson Jr. and Samuels added 13 each.

The contest started out as a physical back-and-forth affair through the first three quarters of the first half. Both teams struggled to get anything going offensively and the game was deadlocked at 8-8 with 13:30 left to play in the opening period. The Monks then took their first lead of the ballgame after a corner three from freshman John Paul Frazier (York, Maine) and went on to build their largest lead of the contest, 14-10, two minutes later after a three-ball from sophomore Teagan Hynes (York, Maine).

O'Neill answered with a trifecta off his own on USJ's next trip down the floor which ignited a mini 9-2 spurt for the Blue Jays as they regained the lead, 19-16, with 7:37 to go in the first half. Saint Joseph would never trail again for the remainder of the contest.

The ensuing two and a half minutes were played within two possessions and then SJC's graduate student Griffin Foley made it a two-point game, 25-23, after he canned a three-pointer with 5:19 remaining on the first-half timer. However, the game-defining run followed as the Blue Jays dominated the final five-plus minutes of the first half and outscored the Monks 17-2 to build a 17-point lead, 42-25, entering the break. O'Neill fueled the run, scoring seven-straight points to conclude the game-breaking stretch heading into the locker rooms.

The Blue Jays carried over their momentum into the start of the second half and outscored the Monks 18-5 over the first six and a half minutes to begin the final period to take a commanding 30-point lead, 60-30. Six different Saint Joseph players found the bottom of the net during the run to start the second half, led once again by O'Neill who poured in five of the 18 points. The Monks answered with back-to-back scores to trim their deficit to 26 points, 60-34, with 9:42 left to play, but that would be as close as they would get for the remainder of the contest.

USJ kept its foot on the gas and built its lead out to as large as 39 points, 80-41, following a layup from graduate student Nadir Dixon-Thompson (Dorchester, Mass.) with 3:48 to go in regulation and the Blue Jays and Monks would trade points the rest of the way en route to an 88-49 final margin of victory.

The Blue Jays' top-ranked field-goal and three-point field-goal percentage defense in the nation was on full display in this one as they held the Monks to a season-low 49 points. The Monks were limited to 30.2% (19-63) shooting from the field and 25.0% (7-28) shooting from beyond the arc. Saint Joseph forced 27 Saint Joseph's turnovers and turned those Monks' miscues into 26 points. USJ registered 15 steals.

USJ shot 47.1% (33-70) from the floor as a team, including 36.0% (9-25) from three-point range. The Blue Jays assisted on 22 of their 33 made field-goals, led by Martin who dished out a game-high six dimes. 

Saint Joseph dominated inside and in the paint, winning the battle on the glass, 47-38. Samuels was one rebound shy of a double-double and finished with a game-best nine boards. Five different Blue Jays grabbed five-plus caroms in the triumph. USJ outscored SJC in the paint, 46-24, and held a 15-4 advantage in second-chance points.

Additionally, freshman Friedrich Feldrappe (Berlin, Germany) provided an energetic 18 minutes off the bench, finishing with seven points and six rebounds for the Blue Jays. Foley was the leading scorer and only player in double figures for the Monks with 11 points (5-11 FG, 1-2 3FG). Senior Ashtyn Abbott (Farmingdale, Maine) added seven points and five rebounds for the visitors.

The Blue Jays will look to secure their third-straight GNAC Championship when they return to the hardwood next on Sunday, February 26 at 1:00 p.m. versus intrastate and conference rival Albertus Magnus College inside James A. Calhoun Gymnasium. It marks the fourth-straight time Saint Joseph and Albertus Magnus will meet in the GNAC Championship. The Falcons hosted and won the first championship meeting back in 2019, while the Blue Jays have hosted and won the last two conference crowns, hoisting the trophy in 2020 and 2022.