O'Neill Nets Career-High, No. 1 Men's Hoops Downs Monks, 100-73

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - Graduate student guard Ryan O'Neill (Litchfield, Conn.) erupted for a career-high 34 points and the top-ranked University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's basketball team scored 63 second-half points to down the visiting Saint Joseph's College (SJC) Monks, 100-73, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GANC) action inside James A. Calhoun Gymnasium Saturday afternoon. With the victory, the Blue Jays are now just one of two undefeated teams remaining in NCAA Division III men's hoops and improve to 15-0 overall and 8-0 in GNAC play. The Monks dip to 7-7 overall and 3-3 in the league with the setback.

GAME INFORMATION 
Score: #1 Saint Joseph 100, Saint Joseph's 73
Records: #1 USJ (15-0, 8-0 GNAC), SJC (7-7, 3-3 GNAC)
Location: James A. Calhoun Gymnasium (West Hartford, Conn.)

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Blue Jays won the tip, scored on their opening possession, and raced out to 7-0 lead behind five early points from O'Neill. USJ would lead wire-to-wire in the victory, but the Monks didn't make it easy for the Blue Jays with some hot shooting to stay within striking distance over the course of the first half. Following the USJ run to start the game, SJC quickly scored eight of the game's next 11 points to pull within two, 10-8, with 16:42 left to play in the opening period. Both teams traded scores over the next five-plus minutes until the hosts used a mini 7-2 spurt to rebuild its seven-point advantage, 24-17, with just over nine minutes to go before the break.

The Monks responded though and scored the next six points to trim their deficit to just one, 24-23, with 7:44 to go on the clock in the first half. After both teams traded three-balls, the Blue Jays once again built their lead back up to seven with six straight points, but the visitors answered with the same run to make it a one-point game again, 33-32, with under two minutes to go before halftime. USJ dug in to close the half though and kept the Monks scoreless over the remaining time on the clock, and netted back-to-back field goals of their own, to build a five-point edge, 37-32, heading into the locker rooms.

O'Neill was the primary source of offense for the Blue Jays over the first 20 minutes of action, dropping 15 first-half points on 5-of-9 shooting from the field, including 2-of-5 from beyond the arc. Graduate student forward Alec Kinder (West Haven, Conn.) was also a spark for the Blue Jays off the bench in the first half and had six points and eight rebounds. SJC's sophomore guard Julian Llopiz (Boston, Mass.) had seven in the first stanza to lead the Monks who slightly outshot the Blue Jays 43.8% (14-32) to 42.4% (14-33) over the opening half of play.

Things opened up for the Blue Jays in the second half as they shot a blistering 60.5% from the field and scored 63 second-half points to pull away for the victory. With the score sitting at 65-61 in favor of the Blue Jays halfway through the second stanza, USJ put its foot on the gas and exploded for a huge 14-0 run over a two-minute span to start to separate from the Monks. The Blue Jays scored on five consecutive possessions with four three-point field goals, including a pair from O'Neill, during the run to build an 18-point cushion, 79-61, with just under eight minutes left in regulation.

The Monks got back within 14 (82-68) after freshman guard John Paul Frazier (York, Maine) connected from beyond the arc with 6:34 left to play, but that would be as close as they would get for the remainder of the contest. Graduate student forward Jake Sullivan (Branford, Conn.) knocked down a trifecta on USJ's next possession and the Blue Jays went on to outscore the Monks 18-5 over the rest of the game to log their 24th straight home win and 43rd straight GNAC win, 100-73.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• O'Neill led a quartet of USJ scorers in double figures on the day, finishing with a career-high 34 points. He also grabbed eight rebouds and had two steals.
• O'Neill connected on 11-of-19 shots from the field, including 6-of-11 from beyind the arc, and hit 6-of-7 tries from the free-throw line.
• Kinder, Sullivan, and senior guard Jaecee Martin (Hartford, Conn.) were the other Blue Jays in double figures, scoring 16, 14, and 11 points, respectively.
• Kinder logged his first career double-double, matching his career-high with 11 rebounds to go along with a career-high 16 points (7-9 FG, 2-2 FT).
• Martin and freshman guard Jonathan Box (Frisco, Texas) each dished out five assists in the triumph.
• Four players also scored in double figures for the Monks led by 21 points (7-12 FG, 6-8 3FG, 1-3 FT) from Frazier.
• USJ forced 19 SJC turnovers and turned those miscues into 24 USJ points.
• Many of those forced turnovers resulted in easy transition buckets as the Blue Jays doubled up the Monks in fast-break points, 16-8.
• USJ dominated down low on the glass and in the paint, outrebounding SJC 45-29. The Blue Jays held sizeable advantages in second-chance points (25-4) and points in the paint (50-30).
• USJ outshot SJC 52.1% (37-71) to 42.4% (28-66) from the field, 40.7% (11-27) to 33.3% (10-30) from three, and 78.9% (15-19) to 63.6% (7-11) from the line.

NOTES

• It marks the ninth time in program history and the first time this season that the Blue Jays have scored 100+ points in a game.
• Saint Joseph is one of just two remaining undefeated teams in NCAA Division III men's basketball.
• USJ has now won its last 43 straight conference games which is the longest active streak in the nation.
• The Blue Jays have now won their last 24 straight home games which is the third longest streak in the nation.
• Today's game marked the fifth meeting all-time between the two programs.
• The Blue Jays are now 4-1 all-time versus the Monks and have won the last four consecutive meetings. USJ is 3-0 all-time at home.

UP NEXT

Men's basketball returns back to the hardwood on Tuesday, January 17 for a GNAC South Division contest and heads on the road to Dean College. Tipoff between the Blue Jays and Bulldogs is slated for 5:00 p.m. inside Pieri Gymnasium in Franklin, Mass.