Monks Stun Polar Bears, 77-59

Recap, photo courtesy of Saint Josephs

BRUNSWICK, Maine – Saint Joseph's College (3-3) toppled Bowdoin College (6-2), 77-59, in a non-conference men's basketball game on Tuesday night.

FIRST GLANCE:
Junior guard Ian Mileikis (Auburn, Maine) netted a game-high 25 points while junior Darian Berry (Rochester, N.H.) and freshman Jack Casale (Portland, Maine/Cheverus) both scored 15 points to help lift Saint Joseph's past Bowdoin, which received votes in the latest D3Hoops.com national poll and was ranked 22nd in last week's release.

THE REST OF THE STORY:
The first half featured four ties and five lead changes with St. Joe's carrying a 34-31 edge into intermission, but the second half was a different story, as the Monks kicked off the latter frame with a 16-1 run en route to securing a 50-32 lead. Casale nailed a three-pointer with 14:34 remaining to cap the scoring outburst.

Over the following three minutes, the Polar Bears rallied and cut the Monks' cushion to nine points (52-43). Senior guard Liam Farley (Chicago, Ill.) closed out an 11-2 Bowdoin run with a trifecta, but – after a timeout – Saint Joseph's regained the double-digit advantage with a 9-2 burst, with Casale (five) and senior forward Quinn Richardson-Newton (Saco, Maine) (four) producing all nine points.
The Monks held on to the two-digit lead for the remainder of play and held a game-high 20-point (74-54) cushion after sophomore guard Mario Nery (Bronx, N.Y.) made a pair of free throws with 3:58 left.

Down the stretch, three SJC players combined to make seven of eight free throw attempts and the Monks' defense held the Polar Bears without a field goal for the final 2:22 minutes.

LEADERS – SAINT JOSEPH'S:

• Mileikis, 9-13 from the floor, scored 16 of his game-high total in the second half and chipped in with four steals and three rebounds
• Casale was 4-8 from downtown, 5-10 from the field, and grabbed four boards in 24 minutes off the bench
• Berry hauled in a game-high eight rebounds with three assists
• Richardson-Newton contributed eight points and four caroms
• Senior Aaron Hall (Haverhill, Mass.) and junior Jae Johns (Lindenhurst, N.Y.) scored six points apiece

LEADERS – BOWDOIN:

• Junior forward Jack Simonds (Falmouth, Maine) scored 19 points off a 7-12 shooting performance
• Junior forward Hugh O'Neil (Lexington, Mass.) added 14 points, four boards, and three assists
• Farley chipped in with 10 points

TEAM STATS:
Saint Joseph's held advantages in rebounds (34-30), points off turnovers (12-6), second-chance points (11-4), points in the paint (30-26), and bench points (21-12) in the victory. The Monks outscored the Polar Bears by a 43-27 margin while shooting 57.1% (16-28) from the field in the second half.

HISTORICALLY SPEAKING:
With the victory, Saint Joseph's improves to 10-16 all-time versus Bowdoin College and has now defeated the Polar Bears in consecutive meetings for the fourth time in the history of the series with Bowdoin. The Monks edged the Polar Bears, 91-88, in overtime at the Harold Alfond Center last winter.

The Monks are now 5-9 against the Polar Bears on their home court, Morrell Gymnasium, and entered tonight's game having not posted a win there since 2011.

NEXT!
Saint Joseph's will host Rivier University in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) contest Saturday at 3:00 PM.