No. 1 Men's Basketball Routes Monks in GNAC Semifinals Friday Night, 88-49

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.

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