WORCESTER, Mass. – Saint Joseph's College (2–2) dropped a tightly contested 74–69 decision at Clark University (3–2) on Tuesday night. The Monks erased nearly all of a 14-point second-half deficit but came up just short in the final minute of play.

HOW IT HAPPENED:

The teams were knotted at 26–26 with 6:32 remaining in the first half, but Clark closed the period on a 15–7 run to take a 41–33 advantage into the break. The Cougars carried that momentum into the second stanza, opening with a 9–3 burst to build a game-high 14-point cushion (50–36) with 17:48 left.

Clark maintained a double-digit edge for much of the next eight minutes and led 66–52 after a Quentin Pridgen layup with 9:10 on the clock. Saint Joseph's responded with a 17–4 run that trimmed the deficit to 70–69 with 1:25 remaining, fueled by junior guard Remijo Wani (Portland, Maine), who scored eight points and recorded two steals during the stretch. The Monks' defensive pressure held Clark to 1-for-9 shooting with five turnovers over that span.

After both teams misfired on their next possessions, Aliaun Iscandari finished a driving layup to extend the Cougar lead to 72–69 with 29 seconds left. Saint Joseph's had three chances to tie the game in the final 12 seconds but couldn't convert. Iscandari was fouled as time expired and hit both free throws to seal the 74–69 final.

STATS OF THE GAME:

The Monks held considerable advantages in fast break points (23-8) and points off turnovers (23-10) but could not overcome subpar shooting from three-point range (3-20, 15.0%) and the FT line (14-23, 61.1%) in the team's second five-point loss of the young season.

The Cougars shot 70.8% (17-24) from the free throw line and led in second chance points (14-6) and bench points (10-3) in the victory.

NOTEWORTHY:

For the Monks, tonight's point total counts at the team's lowest since SJC fell to University of Saint Joseph by a 78-59 score in the 2024 GNAC Championship on February 24, 2024.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Remijo Wani – Game-high 30 points, 6 rebounds, 3 steals
• Davis Mann (Fr., Falmouth, Maine) – 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists
• John Paul Frazier (Sr., York, Maine) – 15 points, 6 rebounds
• Yusuf Dakane (Fr., Lewiston, Maine) – 7 rebounds, 4 assists off the bench

LEADERS – CLARK:

• Aliaun Iscandari – 24 points, 5 steals, 9-for-13 FT
• Boluwasefe John – 12 points, 9 rebounds, 3 blocks
• Reid Neumann – 13 points, 6 rebounds
• Quentin Pridgen – 7 points, 8 assists, 3 steals

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:

Tonight's meeting was the first-ever between the Saint Joseph's and Clark men's basketball programs.

NEXT!

Saint Joseph's faces another stiff test this weekend with an appearance in the Keene State Invitational, starting with a Friday night matchup versus #19 WPI (5:30 PM) and either RV Keene State or Nichols College on Saturday (1:00 PM / 3:00 PM).