CASTLETON, Vt. – Saint Joseph's College (1-1) capped an appearance in the Castleton University Classic with an 81-69 victory over Coast Guard Academy (0-2) on Saturday. Grad student Nicholas Curtis (Windham, Maine) led all players with 21 points in the Monks' first win of the young season.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The Monks trailed by an 8-5 margin early but, as it played out, took the lead for good with an 11-2 outbreak over two minutes and held a 16-10 advantage after grad Griffin Foley (Portland, Maine) sank a three-pointer with 14:51 left in the opening half.

Senior forward Drew Shea (Mount Desert Island, Maine) hit a pair of free throws four minutes later to extend the SJC lead to 32-19. The Bears rallied to make it a 42-40 game with 4:21 before the break, but the Monks reclaimed the double-digit cushion with 12 unanswered points and headed into halftime with a 54-40 lead.

St. Joe's led by no fewer than six points for the remainder of the contest and claimed a game-high 16-point advantage (69-53) when junior guard Camryn Yorke (Auburn, Maine) made a layup with 12:53 left to play.

STATS OF THE GAME:

Saint Joseph's held the lead in three-pointers made (13-4), free-throw percentage (71.4 – 50.0), and bench points (27-22) in the victory.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Curtis was 5-for-12 from three-point land with 21 points and six rebounds
• Foley notched the second double-double of his career with 19 points and 10 assists and added six rebounds
• Freshman guard Wani Donato (Portland, Maine) came off the bench to score 12 points on 5-for-8 shooting with six rebounds and a pair of steals
• Yorke added eight points, six boards, and three assists
• Sophomore Teagan Hynes (York, Maine) and freshman John Paul Snyder (York, Maine) chipped in with six points apiece
• Senior forward Ashtyn Abbott (Farmingdale, Maine) pulled down nine rebounds

LEADERS – COAST GUARD:

• Elijah Parent tallied 17 points, four rebounds, and two assists
• Cameron Brown came off the pine to register 10 points and seven boards
• Abe Countryman added eight points and nine rebounds

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

Today's meeting was the first-ever between the Saint Joseph's and Coast Guard men's basketball programs.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's returns to action on Wednesday with a non-conference contest at Bates College. Tip-off is set for 7:00 PM.

$website.include("/bp")