GNAC Championship: USJ, Albertus Meet In Title Rubber Match

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. — The nationally-ranked No. 12 University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's basketball team is set for another storybook finish one way or another as the team hosts arch-rival and fellow Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) foe, Albertus Magnus College (AMC) in the 2022 GNAC Championship game Sunday. The action kicks off at 3:00 p.m. and a limited amount of tickets remain which can be purchased by visiting www.usjbluejays.com/tickets. Fans who do not secure a ticket, but would like to tune in can head on over to www.usjbluejays.com to catch all the action live.

Top-seeded Saint Joseph versus second-seeded Albertus Magnus. The Battle of the Birds. The Connecticut Clash. Regardless of how you spin it or who you root for, the state, and more importantly, Division III College Basketball is in for a treat, as act three of this young yet historic rivalry reveals itself Sunday afternoon. Here is everything you need to know before tipoff.

HOW THEY GOT HERE

The Blue Jays, who finished 23-1 overall in the regular season and 18-0 in the GNAC, earned the top seed and home-court advantage throughout the playoffs. USJ routed #9 Saint Joseph's (Me.) and #4 Anna Maria College by 50+ points each on their home floor (first set of consecutive 50+ point wins in program history) in the GNAC Quarterfinals and GNAC Semifinals, respectively. USJ's only regular-season loss came to No. 24 Yeshiva, 87-76. The Falcons, who enter at 17-6 and 13-3 in the GNAC, earned the second-seed in the GNAC Tournament and defeated #7 Regis and #3 Lasell at home by 10 and 14 points, respectively, in the quarterfinals and semifinals. Albertus Magnus is playing in its 10th consecutive GNAC Championship game (most all-time), having won the title six of the last 10 seasons and eight overall (most all-time), most recently over USJ in 2019, 81-77.

Saint Joseph has set an assortment of records throughout the season. The Blue Jays, who won their first 22 games to start this season (program record), were the last unbeaten team in all of Division III Men's Basketball, and held the longest active overall win streak of 24 games before losing to Yeshiva on February 17. The Blue Jays still hold the longest active conference win streak in the NCAA at 34-straight games. The team has been in the tops of NCAA Division III in numerous statistical categories, including scoring margin (24.6, 1st), field-goal percentage defense (35.7%, 1st), blocks per game (6.1, 2nd), opponent points per game (60.8, 8th), and three-point field-goal defense (28.1%, 12th).

USJ has had some notable success individually in both the conference and the nation's leaders as well. Senior forward Jordan Powell is fifth in all of D-III in field-goal percentage (69.5%), while senior guard Jaecee Martin (Hartford, Conn.) is in the top-20 in the nation in assists per game (6.0, 16th) and second in the GNAC. Martin shattered the school record and tied an NCAA high this season with 18 assists in one game. His 18 assists are tied for the third-most in a game this season across all three NCAA divisions, including D-I. 

USJ broke a GNAC Men's Basketball record with its No. 5 national ranking twice this season, passing Albertus Magnus who was ranked as high as No. 6 in 2014-15. Saint Joseph has been nationally ranked all season long. 

WHO TO WATCH

USJ: Senior guard Ryan O'Neill (Litchfield, Conn.) – The Blue Jays are 6-0 in playoff games when O'Neill scores double digits, including 2-0 this season. O'Neill was the x-factor in USJ's most recent, 85-81, win over AMC on February 8 in New Haven, scoring a career-high 32 points (17-22 FT). O'Neill is in a groove after tying a program-record six three-pointers in USJ's quarterfinal win over Saint Joseph's (Me.) on February 23. Expect O'Neill to find his touch if the Blue Jays want to hoist the trophy for a second straight season.

AMC: Senior guard Tyreek Perkins (New Haven, Conn.) – Perkins is one of just a handful of Falcons players who has been around for the beginning of this men's basketball rivalry. He scored 20 points in the 2020 GNAC Championship game, and the lefty's perimeter game can be dangerous if given space. Perkins missed the first meeting this season between the teams and was battling an injury in the second game. The senior gets another shot at the Blue Jays today coming off back-to-back 19-point performances in his last two games in the postseason. The Falcons will need his offensive presence if they want to reclaim the title on the road Sunday.

WHERE TO WATCH

Today's championship game is being held inside the O'Connell Athletic Center, on the campus of the University of Saint Joseph in West Hartford, Conn. It will be the first conference championship to be hosted in the new-look O'Connell Center which was completed in April of 2021. Gym doors open at 2:00 p.m., one hour prior to tip-off. Limited tickets remain and fans can secure theirs by heading over to www.usjbluejays.com/tickets. There are also other ways to watch/follow the GNAC Championship game:

• Video
• Live Stats
• Live Tweets/Highlights: @USJ_BlueJays | #FearTheFlock #GoBlueJays

COACHING ROYALTY

The Blue Jays are coached by long-time associate head coach to three-time NCAA Division I National Champion and Basketball Hall of Famer, Jim Calhoun – Glen Miller, who took over for Calhoun in November following his retirement from coaching. Since then, the Blue Jays have been nearly unbeatable as Miller, who was a part of those national titles as an assistant, will look for his first conference championship as a head coach since winning the Ivy League Championship at Pennsylvania in 2007.

The Falcons are coached by Mitch Oliver, who has won nearly 275 career games in his stat-stuffed tenure. Oliver's first season was his only losing record ever, with GNAC Championships in 2010, 2012-2015, 2017 and 2019. Oliver is 7-3 all-time in the GNAC title game and is in his 15th season.

BLUE JAY ARCHIVE

The Blue Jays are in their third full men's basketball season and will play in their third straight title game. A win would give USJ its ninth GNAC Championship in school history:

The Falcons have set the bar for GNAC Men's Basketball since its inception in 1995, winning eight GNAC Championships in 25 seasons (No other team has more than two). AMC has also appeared in the title game five other times and lost, for a total GNAC Championship game record of 8-5.

The Blue Jays are 8-3 all-time in GNAC title games as a whole, and look to make it three in a row after softball defeated Simmons in 2019, and men's basketball defeated Albertus Magnus in 2020.

UP NEXT
The stage is set for the top-seeded Blue Jays, who advance to the GNAC Championship for the third straight season. They will once again host the Falcons of Albertus Magnus College, this time inside the new-look O'Connell Center, on Sunday, February 27 at 3:00 p.m. Saint Joseph swept Albertus Magnus this season and won the 2020 GNAC Championship over the Falcons, 88-84. Albertus Magnus won the 2019 championship over USJ, 81-77. Tickets are sold out, so you can catch the action live on www.usjbluejays.com. 

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