Men's Basketball: Monks Defeat AMCATS, 80-57

Paxton, Mass. – A total of 11 AMCATS contributed with points this afternoon, but it was not enough, as the Anna Maria College men's basketball team fell to Saint Joseph's College of Maine, 80-57, in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference battle this afternoon.  The loss drops the AMCATS to 3-9 (1-4 GNAC) while the Monks improve their record to 6-6 (5-0 GNAC). 

Anna Maria sophomore Connor O'Leary (Marlborough, Mass.) led the team in scoring with 8 points.  Fellow sophomore Pedro Trindade (Billerica, Mass.) had a team high eight rebounds in the loss. 

The Monks jumped out to an early 17-9 lead with senior Matthew Medeiros (Westport, Mass.) converting one of his 5 three pointers on the day with 10 minutes remaining in the first half.  The AMCATS were able to convert the next two baskets, cutting Saint Joseph's lead to 17-13, but the Monks pulled away from there.  Saint Joseph's went on a 24-3 run in the final 10 minutes of the 1^st half, giving them a 41-16 lead at the break. 

Anna Maria continued to battle throughout the second half, but the lead that the Monks built proved to be insurmountable.  Matthew Medeiros scored a game high 22 points, and sophomore Jerome Diggs (Washington, D.C.) and junior Steve Simonds (Steep Falls, ME) contributed 15 and 14 points respectively to lead the way for the Monks. 

The AMCATS return to action on Wednesday evening as they travel to Albertus Magnus in a GNAC match-up with the conference leading Falcons.  Tip-off is slated for 7:00 PM.