No. 2 Men's Basketball Runs Past Rivier Saturday, 94-52

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - The nationally-ranked No. 2 University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's basketball team ran past the visiting Rivier University Raiders, 94-52, at home Saturday afternoon in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest inside James A. Calhoun Gymnasium in West Hartford, Conn. The Blue Jays dominated the Raiders from the opening tip, led wire-to-wire in the 42-point conference triumph, and logged season-highs as a team in points off turnovers (33), fast-break points (23), and second-chance points (21) en route to their eighth straight victory to start the 2022-23 season.

GAME INFORMATION 
Score: #2 USJ 94, Rivier 52
Records: #2 USJ (8-0, 3-0 GNAC), Rivier (2-9, 0-3 GNAC) 
Location: James A. Calhoun Gymnasium (West Hartford, Conn.)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Saint Joseph won the tip and scored on its opening possession when senior guard Tyree Mitchell (East Hartford, Conn.) buried a three-pointer from the wing nine seconds into the contest. That would mark the beginning of a barrage by the Blue Jays in this one as they never trailed in the contest and held the lead for 39:51 over the Raiders in a runaway GNAC victory.

Including the Mitchell trey, USJ knocked down its first four shot attempts from the field to race out to a 10-2 advantage just over three minutes into the game. After starting 0-for-5 shooting from the field, the Raiders finally logged their first field-goal 5:14 into to contest to make it 10-4. However, two quick scores by the Blue Jays pushed their lead to 10, 14-4, and forced an early Rivier timeout with 14 minutes left to play in the first half.

Both teams traded points over the ensuing minutes until a 10-4 spurt by the Blue Jays, capped by an old-fashioned three-point play by freshman guard Jonathan Box (Frisco, Texas), built USJ's largest lead of the first half, 29-13, with 9:19 to play before the break. Rivier answered with its best run of the game and trimmed its deficit back to 10 points, 33-23, with 5:22 left in the opening period.

The Blue Jays punched right back with an 8-2 scoring stretch over the next three-plus minutes to regain their 16-point lead, 41-25, with just over two minutes left before halftime. Graduate student forward Jake Sullivan (Branford, Conn.) punctuated the stretch with a traditional three-point play. However, the Raiders held the Blue Jays scoreless for the remainder of the half and scored three points themselves, including a breakaway layup to beat the halftime buzzer, to make it 41-28 entering the halftime intermission.

Mitchell led Saint Joseph at the break with 11 first-half points, while Sullivan and senior guard Delshawn Jackson Jr. (Hartford, Conn) added eight and seven, respectfully. The Blue Jays shot 51.7% (15-29) as a team from the field and held Rivier to 33.3% (9-27) shooting over the opening 20 minutes of action.

Graduate senior guard Ryan O'Neill (Litchfield, Conn.) drilled his first of four second-half three-pointers to open the scoring for the Blue Jays coming out of the locker rooms. The Raiders netted the next five points to cut their deficit to 11, 44-33, with just over 17 minutes left to play in regulation, but that would be as close as the visitors would get for the remainder of the contest.

USJ responded with a massive 24-5 run over the ensuing six minutes to put the game out of reach and ballooned its lead up to 30 points, 68-38, with 11:05 left to play. O'Neill was unconscious during the run, netting 15 of his 18 second-half points during the stretch.

After five quick points by Rivier to make it 68-43 halfway through the second stanza, Saint Joseph rattled off another big run, 13-0, to push its lead out to 38 points, 81-43, with 6:46 left to play. Freshmen Lence Altenor (Everett, Mass.), Malcolm Eley (Bronx, N.Y.), Friedrich Feldrappe (Berlin, Germany) and Box scored all of USJ's points during the spurt. The Blue Jays cruised over the final minutes and saw 15 different players score in total en route to a 94-52 final margin of victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• O'Neill led a trio of USJ scorers in double figures on the day, finishing with a game-high 21 points. He had 18 in the second half.
• O'Neill netted his game-high 21 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field, including 4-for-6 from downtown, and was a perfect 5-for-5 from the charity stripe.
• Mitchell and Jackson Jr. were the other Blue Jays in double figures, finishing with 13 points and 10 points, respectively.
• Sullivan chipped in with eight points, grabbed six rebounds, and swiped three steals.
• Graduate student Alec Kinder (West Haven, Conn.) pulled down a game-high eight boards as USJ controlled the glass as a team, 45-25.
• Rivier did not have a scorer in double figures. 
• The Blue Jays forced 23 Rivier turnovers and turned those miscues into 33 USJ points.
• Saint Joseph dominated in points in the paint, 44-18, and second-chance points, 21-4
• The Blue Jays outshot the Raiders from the field 49.3% (33-67) to 35.4% (17-48) and from three-point range 40.0% (10-25) to 26.1% (6-23).

NOTES

• With the victory, the Blue Jays have now won their last 38-straight GNAC games. That streak is the longest in the nation.
• USJ has now also won its last 20-straight home games. That mark is tied for the sixth longest streak in the nation.
• USJ is now 4-0 all-time versus Rivier.
• Today's 42-point margin of victory is the largest in the series history.

UP NEXT

Men's basketball has a quick turnaround and returns back to the hardwood on Monday, December 12 for a non-conference contest at home versus the Westfield State University Owls. Tipoff between the Blue Jays and Owls is scheduled for 7:00 p.m. inside James A. Calhoun Gymnasium in West Hartford, Conn. Tickets to attend Monday night's game can be purchased by visiting www.usjbluejays.com/tickets. Fans who cannot make it to West Hartford can watch all of the action live by visiting https://portal.stretchinternet.com/usj/.