NEWTON, Mass. – With a record-breaking performance, Saint Joseph's College of Maine shot their way to an 87-56 victory over Mount Ida College in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) men's basketball action on Thursday night at Mount Ida Athletic Center.
The Monks (16-8, 15-2 GNAC) hit 18 three-pointers on 33 attempts, good for 54.5%, setting new program marks for three-point field goals made and attempted.
Despite 23 points from Mount Ida freshman Ethan Dujon (Warwick, R.I.), the Mustangs fell to 5-19 on the year (3-14 GNAC).
Senior Matthew Medeiros (Westport, Mass.) led the shooting gallery for Saint Joseph's, hitting 7 of 12 attempts from beyond the three-point line for a game-high 26 points. He was joined by junior Steve Simonds (Steep Falls, Maine), who added 17 points on 5-for-8 long range shooting, as seven players made three's for the Monks and the two teams combined for 51 total attempts from downtown.
Medeiros had already hit three times from outside, nailing his first three attempts in under five minutes en route to a 22-4 run to open the game for the Monks.
Mount Ida went on a mini-run of their own and pulled to within seven points, 33-26, on a Kenny Jean (Dorchester, Mass.) layup with 5:38 to play in the opening frame.
Simonds answered with a layup and a three-pointer in the next minute and Saint Joseph's scored the next nine points to push their lead back to double-digits, and it sat at 16 points, 48-32, at the halftime break.
The Monks continued to build on their lead through the second half, hitting nine more triples, including scoring twelve straight points via the three to build an 84-49 advantage. They held their largest lead of the night, 87-49, with 2:11 left in the game before the Mustangs scored the last seven points of the game, including a three-pointer from senior Calvin Claiborne (Dorchester, Mass.), who had five points off the bench.
Jean grabbed six rebounds for Mount Ida, good enough to co-lead all players with Saint Joseph's Nicholas Jobin (Westbrook, Maine) and Davis Tucker (High Point, N.C.), as the Monks held a 35-26 edge on the glass.
Mount Ida junior Treace Macklin (Brockton, Mass.) added seven points and three assists, while Anre Dowell (Plymouth, Mass.) had six points on 2-4 outside shooting.
Jobin had 14 points in the game, surprisingly enough without taking a shot from outside of the arc. Simdons handed out five assists, as did sophomore Jerome Diggs (Washington, D.C.), while Craig Luschenat (Boston, Mass.) added six points off the bench and, at 2-for-3, was the only player besides Simonds and Medeiros to hit multiple triples.
Saint Joseph's shot 61.5% from the field in the first half and 53.7% for the game, while the Mustangs were a touch over 40% from the floor and shot 5-for-18 on three-point attempts of their own.
Mount Ida ends their regular season on Saturday afternoon when they celebrate Senior Day with a 3:00 pm game against Johnson & Wales at Mount Ida Athletic Center.
Saint Joseph's plays at the same time down the road against Lasell before prepping for the GNAC tournament.