No. 5 Blue Jays Hold Off Wildcats Down Stretch, 77-68

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The nationally-ranked No.5 University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's basketball team survived a hard-charging Johnson & Wales University (JWU) Wildcats team, 77-68, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) game inside the O'Connell Center on senior night Tuesday. The Blue Jays, who have already clinched the GNAC regular season championship, and a first-round bye and home-court advantage throughout the GNAC Tournament, have won 24 in a row dating back to last season and are 22-0 overall.

The Blue Jays win streak is the longest active streak in all of college basketball (Div I-III). USJ is one of two remaining undefeated teams in the nation (one in D-II), and also owns the longest active conference win streak in Division III at 31 straight. During the streak, USJ has also won 21 of its last 23 games by double digits. Prior to tip-off, the Blue Jays honored their three seniors who will be graduting from the university this spring: senior forward Alec Kinder (West Haven, Conn.), senior forward Sam Mayjek (Brooklyn, Conn.), and senior forward Jordan Powell (Middletown, Conn.). 

Senior guard Tyree Mitchell (East Hartford, Conn.) was huge for Saint Joseph off the bench with 16 points (7-14 FG). The Martin Brothers also played a pivotal part as they always seem to do, as senior guard Chaylyn Martin (Hartford, Conn.) and senior guard Jaecee Martin (Hartford, Conn.) scored 17 and 16 points respectively. The game was dominated by junior guard Aireus Raspberry (Cranston, R.I.), who dropped a career-high 31 points (11-24 FG, 6-9 3-pt FG) to keep the Wildcats and Blue Jays tight throughout the contest.

Turnovers were the name of the game as USJ valued the basketball as well as it has all season, committing only 10 turnovers to JWU's 20. Despite being outrebounded by the Wildcats, 41-34, the Blue Jays converted on those second-chance points, outscoring the visitors, 13-6, and had a sizeable advantage inside (44-24 points in the paint). This was as close as things have gotten inside the O-C for the No. 5 Blue Jays this season, as JWU pushed the hosts to the brink. Six ties and 10 lead changes later, the game was tied, 65-65. Clutch time kicked in as the Blue Jays erupted for the biggest run of the game, scoring 12 straight points in a variety of ways to seal the victory and keep their unbeaten streak alive.

GAME INFORMATION
Score: Johnson & Wales 68, Saint Joseph 77
Records: JWU 10-12 (8-8 GNAC), USJ 22-0 (17-0 GNAC)
Location: O'Connell Athletic Center | West Hartford, Conn.

USJ is now 3-1 all-time vs JWU, having won the last three meetings (both this season).

Up Next
The Blue Jays will now prepare for the biggest test of the season in No. 24 Yeshiva, a rematch from the abbreviated 2020-21 season in which USJ lost to Yeshiva twice. The action kicks off at 8:00 p.m. inside the Max Stern Athletic Center in New York, N.Y. on Thursday, February 17.

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