STANDISH, Maine – Colby College (3-0) defeated Saint Joseph's College (2-1), 77-61 in NCAA DIII men's basketball action at the Harold Alfond Center on Saturday afternoon.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The first half, which featured four lead changes and was tied on two occasions, was tightly contested, as the Monks held a 22-21 lead after junior guard Griffin Foley (Portland, Maine) made a layup with 5:40 before the break. Unfortunately for the hosts, Colby proceeded to mount a 16-3 run over the following four minutes to claim a 37-25 cushion with 1:48 on the first-half clock. The Mules, who received 10 points from sophomore guard Will King (Glenview, Ill.) during the offensive surge, headed into intermission with a 37-27 advantage.

The Monks managed to cut their deficit to single digits early in the second stanza with the help of layups from Foley and sophomore Ashtyn Abbott (Farmingdale, Maine), but the Mules seemingly could not miss from three-point distance and hit a trio of treys in just over two minutes to obtain a 51-47 lead.

As the game played out, Colby would lead by double digits for the remainder of the afternoon and held a game-high 20-point (76-56) advantage after sophomore guard Alex McGovern (Colchester, Conn.) netted a three-pointer with 3:13 remaining.

STATS OF THE GAME:

The Mules made 15 of 45 attempts from beyond the arc while the Monks went 7-22 from downtown in the setback…Colby scored 22 points off 17 SJC turnovers while the Monks netted only five points off five Mule miscues.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Foley paced the Monks with 13 points and added seven rebounds and a pair of assists in the setback
• Sophomore guard Ian Jennings (Milton, Vt.) came off the bench to score a career-high 11 points and was 3-4 from three-point distance
• Senior guard Patrick Kelly (Charlestown, Mass.) provided the Royal Blue with a spark off the bench with nine points, six rebounds, and two assists
• Abbott contributed nine points and five rebounds
• Junior guard Nicholas Curtis (Windham, Maine) chipped in with eight points, four boards, and three assists

LEADERS – COLBY:

• King led all scorers with 22 points and added nine rebounds, six assists, and three steals to an impressive stat line
• Freshman guard David Basich (Westport, Conn.) tallied 14 points and five rebounds
• Sophomore guard Cooper Wirkala (Spruce Head, Maine) netted 13 with three caroms
• McGovern rounded out the Mules' quartet of top scorers with 11 points

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

With the loss, Saint Joseph's falls to 4-8 all-time versus Colby College, a team the Monks had not faced since the 2007-08 campaign prior to today's meeting.

NEXT!

The Monks and Mules will face off again tomorrow with a 2:00 PM matchup in Waterville.

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