Men's Basketball Leads Wire-To-Wire, Opens GNAC Play With Win Over Monks, 94-76

WEST HARTFORD, Conn. - Perhaps a sigh of relief was had by the other 14 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) teams when they realized Tyree Mitchell (2023-2024 GNAC Player of the Year) and Jalen Samuels (3x GNAC Defensive Player of the Year) graduated after last season. Surely losing two stars would give opposing GNAC coaching staffs an easier gameplan against the Blue Jays, right? Enter freshman guard Jakari Tertulien (Bridgeport, Conn.).

In just his seventh career collegiate game, and first against a GNAC opponent, the first-year guard from Bridgeport, Connecticut erupted for a career-high 24 points to lead the Blue Jays to a 94-76 victory over Saint Joseph College in the GNAC opener for both teams. With the result, USJ improved to 5-2 overall and 1-0 in the GNAC, while the Monks dropped to 5-3 overall and start 0-1 in conference play on the season.

HOW IT HAPPENED

The Blue Jays scored the game's first 14 points in part because of another USJ freshman, Adelphe Cisse (Point-Noire, Congo). Cisse recorded two blocks in the opening 1:41 of the contest, the second block leading to his own jump shot and a USJ 5-0 lead. Junior Forward Friedrich Feldrappe (Berlin, Germany) scored the final two buckets of the opening run to give the Blue Jays a two-touchdown lead with 14:58 left in the first half. Just a little over a minute later, Junior Guard Lence Altenor (Everett, Mass.) went on his own 7-0 scoring run behind two layups and a three-pointer. Altenor scored 16 first half-points and was a perfect 6 for 6 from the field, including 4 for 4 from behind the arc. Just under three minutes left in the half, Tertulien stole the ball from SJC's Julian Llopiz and the freshman completed the play with a wide open fastbreak dunk, giving the Blue Jays a 41-22 lead. Tertulien also accounted for a career-high six steals as USJ went into halftime break with a 50-28 lead. The 50 points is the most the Blue Jays have scored in a single half this season.

Senior Guard Tahmeen Dupree (Brooklyn, NY) scored the Blue Jays first five points of the second half, behind two layups, including an And-one basket. With 14:04 left, USJ took its largest lead of the game at 28 points after Dupree hit a three-pointer to widen the margin to 67-39. Dupree finished the ball game with a season-high 21 points. But the Monks did not go down quietly as they ripped off an 11-0 run led by Sophomore Guard Remijo Wani (Portland, ME). Wani ended the night with a game-high 25 points. Saint Joseph College cut the deficit to 14 points after a layup from Sophomore Guard Pitia Donato (Portland, ME) to make it a 82-68 with 4:56 left. But Tertulien responded on his own 5-0 run, capped off by a steal and a three-pointer to give USJ an 87-68 lead with 2:45 left in the game.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• USJ is now 9-1 all-time against the Monks.
• Tertulien's 24 points is the most by a freshman since February 19, 2019 when Delshawn Jackson Jr. also scored 24 points against Suffolk University in the GNAC Quarterfinals.
• The Blue Jays scored a season-high 94 points behind a season-high 12 three-pointers made.
• USJ has won 63 consecutive GNAC Regular season games.
• Five Blue Jays scored in double-figures: Tertulien (24 points), Dupree (21 points), Altenor (16 points), Feldrappe (13 points) and Kevin Cummings (11 points).

UP NEXT

This upcoming Monday, December 9, the Blue Jays will travel just down the road to take on the nationally-ranked No. 4 team in the country, the Trinity College Bantams at 7:00 p.m. inside Ray Oosting Gymnasium in Hartford, Conn. The Blue Jays lead the all-time series 2-1, including an 83-73 victory in the matchup's only meeting in Hartford back on November 19, 2019.

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