WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – The nationally-ranked No. 4 University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's basketball team made history, winning its first-ever NCAA Tournament game after knocking off the visiting Chatham University Cougars, 76-53, during the 2023 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament First Round Friday night inside the James A. Calhoun Gymnasium in West Hartford, Conn. The NCAA Tournament win was the first for USJ in the five-year history of the program and also the first in school history. The victory marks the fifth time a team from the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) will be advancing to the Second Round. The win was also the first time since the 2012 NCAA Tournament that a GNAC team was victorious in the opening round. Senior guard Jaecee Martin (Hartford, Conn.), a 2023 All-GNAC First Team selection, led the way in the victory over the Cougars with a game-high 16 points. With the win, USJ improves to 28-1 overall on the year, while Chatham concludes its season with a 17-12 record.
Chatham would score the first points of the game 44 seconds in, but senior guard Delshawn Jackson Jr. (Hartford, Conn.) quickly knocked down a contested triple to give USJ the lead, 3-2, at the 18:31 mark. The Cougars would answer right back to retake the lead, but a 4-0 Jalen Samuels (Franklin, Mass.) run, saw USJ hold a 7-4 edge entering the media timeout with 15:36 on the clock. Samuels worked his way into the post, sinking an easy layup, before turning defense into offense, picking off a pass, before finishing at the other end. Chatham would gain the momentum though out of the break, using a 5-0 run of its own to establish a two-point lead, 9-7, at the 13:08 mark. The Cougars continued to fire on all cylinders, knocking down a three-pointer to increase the advantage to 12-7, forcing USJ to call a timeout with 12:09 left in the half.
Jaecee Martin quickly got USJ on the board out of the timeout, sinking a tough pull-up jumper, but the Cougars immediately responded to reestablish a five-point lead, 14-9. The Blue Jays continued to fight back, as a pair of Chaylyn Martin (Hartford, Conn.) free throws brought USJ back within two, 19-17, heading into the under-eight media timeout with 7:51 on the clock. The Blue Jays continued their momentum out of the break, as Jaecee Martin sunk a sweet reverse layup after a nice pass from Samuels, leveling the score at 19-19. Chatham and USJ would trade buckets until the hosts erupted for an 8-0 run, jumping out to a 27-21 lead, and forcing Chatham to call a timeout with 5:28 left in the half. Capping off the run was Samuels, who again jumped in front of a pass, before slamming home a dunk on the other end to force the break in play.
USJ continued to dominate in the closing portion of the half, as its defense continued to hold Chatham scoreless, while graduate student guard Ryan O'Neill (Litchfield, Conn.) increased the gap to seven, 28-21, after a free-throw at the 4:30 mark. Graduate student forward Alec Kinder (West Haven, Conn.) increased the USJ run to 13-0 after a pair of free throws, while freshman forward Friedrich Feldrappe (Berlin, Germany) increased the lead to double-digits, 32-21, after a spinning layup with 2:29 left in the half. The Cougars would put an end to the run, getting back within nine, 32-23, but the Blue Jays ended the half on a 4-3 spurt to take a 36-26 advantage into the halftime break.
Jaecee Martin wasted little time getting USJ on the board in the second half, knocking down a pull-up jumper from the elbow, increasing the USJ lead to 38-26 at the 19:10 mark. Chatham would pull back within 10, 40-30, but Chaylyn Martin corralled his own offensive rebound and finished a putback layup to reestablish a 12-point edge, 42-30, with 17:21 on the clock. Chaylyn Martin continued his strong start to the half, sinking a pair of shots from the free-throw line, increasing the advantage to 44-30 heading into a media timeout with 15:42 on the clock. The Martin's continued to roll in the second half, as Jaecee made a tough pull-up jumper followed by a Chaylyn triple from the wing, that increased the USJ lead to 17, 49-32, with 14:29 left to play. Chatham would go on to pull back within 13, but an O'Neill spot-up jumper from the top of the key gave USJ a 53-38 lead entering a media timeout with 11:58 left to play.
The Cougars would explode for a 6-0 run coming out of the break, cutting the deficit to 11, 55-44, and forcing the Blue Jays to call a timeout with 9:21 on the clock. Chatham continued to claw back, closing the gap to as close as 10 after a pair of free throws, but Jackson Jr. put an end to the run with a baseline jumper, giving USJ a 58-46 edge with 7:51 left to play.
O'Neill increased the gap back to 14, 60-46, draining a floating jump shot in the lane with 6:31 on the clock. Chatham would respond with a bucket of their own to cut the gap back to 14, but graduate student forward Jake Sullivan (Branford, Conn.) immediately picked off a pass before finishing at the other end to reestablish a 14-point lead, 62-48. The Cougars continued to yo-yo the score, sinking a pair of free throws to get back within 12, 62-50, heading into the final media timeout at the 3:55 mark. Chatham would continue to fight, but Sullivan came up clutch with a pull-up mid-range jumper, while a Jaecee Martin layup off a turnover increased the lead back to 17, 68-51, with 2:15 left in the game. The points would spark a 12-4 run to end the game, as USJ took home the victory, 76-53.
Chaylyn Martin and O'Neill joined Jaecee Martin in double-figures, dropping 12 and 11 points, respectively. Samuels paced the Blue Jays on the glass, hauling in eight rebounds. The Blue Jays dominated inside, scoring 46 points in the paint. USJ was tenacious defensively, limiting the Cougars to 34.0 percent shooting (18-for-53) from the floor, including a 21.7 percent mark (5-for-23) from deep.
UP NEXT
The Blue Jays advance to the NCAA Tournament Second Round, where they will play nationally-ranked No. 14 Williams College tomorrow, Saturday March 4. Williams defeated No. 25 Pomona-Pitzer earlier in the day. Tipoff against the Ephs inside James A. Calhoun Gymnasium in West Hartford, Conn., is set for 6:45 p.m. Tickets, which can be purchased at www.usjbluejays.com/tickets, for the game will go on sale Saturday at noon.
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