NCAA M. BASKETBALL: Monks Hold Off Huskies, Reclaim Costello Cup, 71-66

STANDISH, Maine – Saint Joseph’s College (3-2) tipped University of Southern Maine (4-2), 71-66, in non-conference men’s basketball action at the Harold Alfond Center on Sunday evening.
THE LEAD
 
The Monks trailed by 11 points – 31-20 – with 7:43 remaining in the first half, but the hosts outscored the visitors by a 21-7 margin leading up to intermission, as senior guard Jerome Diggs (Washington, D.C.) drained a deep buzzer-beater to make it a 41-38 game at the break.
 
Saint Joseph’s tied the game on six occasions in the second stanza before finally securing the lead for good when junior Andrew Ruffen (Salem, N.H.) dropped a three-pointer off a Quinn Richardson-Newton (Saco, Maine) pass, making it a 65-62 contest with 3:48 remaining. The Monks went 4-4 from the FT line in the closing 12 seconds to hold off the Huskies, who stayed in contention until the final buzzer rang.
 
COSTELLO CUP
 
With the win, Saint Joseph’s reclaims the Costello Cup, which is presented annually to the winner of
the contest between the rivals, for the first time since the 2012-13 season and 16th time in the 27-game history of the Cup series, which began during the 1989-90 campaign. The Costello Cup is named in honor of the late Dr. Richard "Doc" Costello, former USM Athletic Director and long-time basketball coach.
 
LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH’S

•       Junior guard John Crawley (Fitchburg, Mass.) led all scorers with 19 points while making three of four three-point attempts and added six rebounds

•       Richardson-Newton tallied 14 points off a 5-8 shooting effort and pulled down nine caroms

•       Ruffen netted 14 with eight boards and four assists

•       Freshman guard Ian Mileikis (Auburn, Maine) added eight points, five rebounds and two helpers

•       Diggs produced seven points with two rebounds and a pair of dimes
 
LEADERS – SOUTHERN MAINE

•       Senior guard Cole Libby (Buxton, Maine) led the Huskies with 18 points with three steals and three boards

•       Senior guard Jose Novchanthavong (Westbrook, Maine) tallied 14 points with four boards and five assists

•       Junior guard Zach Leal (York, Maine) was 6-8 from the field and totaled 12 points with four helpers

•       Junior forward Atencio Martin (Kittery, Maine) posted a double-double with 10 points and 11 caroms
 
NOTEWORTHY
 
The Huskies shot 54.8% (17-31) from the floor in the first half but managed to shot just 27.8% (10-36), including a 3-15 (20%) effort from three-point distance, in the second stanza.
 
TEAM STATS
 
Saint Joseph’s shot 48% (24-50) from the field, 44.4% (8-18) from three-point range and 68.2% (15-22) from the free throw line while Southern Maine countered by shooting 40.3% (27-67) from the floor, 27.6% (8-29) from downtown and 66.7% (4-6) from the charity stripe.
 
The Monks owned advantages in rebounds (38-32), assists (15-14) and bench points (13-8) while the Huskies led in points off turnovers (10-6), points in paint (28-26) and second chance points (12-7).
 
NEXT!
 
Both teams resume play on Tuesday night, when Saint Joseph’s hosts conference-rival Emmanuel College in a 7:00 PM start and Southern Maine hosts Bowdoin College at 5:30 PM.