Box Score HENNIKER, N.H. – Saint Joseph's College (6-8, 2-0 GNAC) toppled New England College (5-8, 0-2 GNAC), 107-67, in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball action on Wednesday night.
MAKING HISTORY:
Senior Wani Donato (Portland, Maine) and junior Remijo Wani (Portland, Maine) entered the night within reach of 1,000 career points, and both hit the milestone—marking the second time in the 56-year history of Saint Joseph's men's basketball - and first time since the 1986-87 season - that two players reached 1,000 in the same game.
Donato needed six points and reached the mark on a layup 9:31 into the game. Wani, who began the night 27 points shy, eclipsed the plateau with a deep three-pointer with 5:06 remaining, with sophomore Mikaele Martinez (Valhalla, N.Y.) being credited with the assist.
Saint Joseph's College athletics hall of fame inductees David Chadbourne '87 and Bryan Rubenskas '87 were the first SJC players to hit the 1,000-point mark in the same game when they did so in a 110-80 victory in the "Chamber of Horrors" at SJC on January 20th, 1987.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Saint Joseph's controlled the action from the opening tip, leading for all but one early New England possession and sprinting to an 18–4 advantage after shooting 7-for-9 in the first five minutes. The Monks never let the margin dip back into single digits, taking a 61–31 lead into halftime behind 63.6% shooting (21-of-33) from the field and 58.8% (10-of-17) from three.
Senior guard John Paul Frazier (York, Maine) paced all scorers with 18 first-half points.
With every available player seeing the floor, Saint Joseph's kept its foot on the gas after the break and built a game-high 47-point cushion (98–51) when freshman Yusuf Dakane (Lewiston, Maine) buried a three with 6:04 remaining.
STATS OF THE GAME:
The Monks shot 53.0% (35-66) from the floor, 50.0% (18-36) from three, and 73.1% (19-26) from the FT line and held advantages in rebounds (52-26), assists (26-11), and points in the paint (32-28).
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:
LEADERS – NEW ENGLAND COLLEGE:
- Josh Robie: 9 points
- Stravis Lutchman: 7 points
- Mike Strazzeri / Luke Montejo / Michael Hills / Jayden Welch: 6 points apiece
HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
Saint Joseph's is now 20-1 in the history of the series with New England College and has now topped the Pilgrims in 20-consecutive meetings dating back to the 1971-72 campaign.
NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will play at Norwich University on Saturday in a GNAC matchup set to start at 3:00 PM.
