Men's Basketball Falls to Monks, 61-54
Posted: Nov 29, 2016

Men's Basketball Falls to Monks, 61-54

Game Leaders
Saint Joseph's (Me.)
Pts: Darian Berry - 19
Reb: Marc Corey - 9
Ast: Aaron Hall - 5
Anna Maria
Pts: Mike Rapoza - 16
Reb: Mike Rapoza - 11
Ast: Liam Pickett - 4
Team Stats
Full stats

PAXTON, Mass. – The Anna Maria College Men's Basketball team fell to the Monks of Saint Joseph's College of Maine by a final score of 61-54 on Tuesday night. The loss drops the AMCATS to an 0-6 overall record and an 0-1 record in Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) play. With the win, the Monks improve to 2-3 overall and 1-0 in the GNAC.

 

INSIDE THE NUMBERS

Anna Maria was led by freshman Mike Rapoza (Charlton, Mass.) who had 16 points and 11 rebounds on the night. Senior David Jean-Louis (Miramar, Fla.) and freshman Malik Forouzan (Houston, Texas) chipped in with eight points apiece.

Darian Berry had a team-high 19 points for the Monks as he went 5-for-8 from behind the arc. John Crawley added nine points while sophomore Marc Corey collected nine rebounds for Saint Joseph's.
The AMCATS shot 38 percent from field goal range and 26.7 percent from beyond the arc with two three pointers from both Jean-Louis and freshman Bobby Perette (Marshfield, Mass.). The Monks went 23-for-57 from field goal range for a 40.4 shooting percentage. The vistors shined from three-point range with 11 made three-pointers (five from Berry) for a 40.7 shooting percentage.
Rebounding was close, as the Monks outrebounded the AMCATS by just one, 37-36. Both teams turned the ball over 14 times but the AMCATS were able to convert 11 points from those turnovers while Saint Joseph's notched just nine points.
 

HOW IT HAPPENED

FIRST HALF

Anna Maria and the Monks played strong defense throughout the first half. Darian Berry opened up scoring with two and a half minutes off the clock as he drained his first three of the night to claim the early lead for the Monks. A quick layup by and a free throw made by Aaron Hall and a Rapoza layup to respond gave the Monks a 6-2 lead early in the first half.

Over the next five minutes the Monks would tally just one more layup and the AMCATS were able to tie it up, 8-8 with two layups by Rapoza and a strong drive to the basket made by junior guard Liam Pickett (Oxford, Mass.).

The AMCATS took their first lead of the game when junior Kenneth Graham (West Haven, Conn.) converted a turnover by the Monks into two points with a made jumper from the elbow (12-8). With 8:20 on the clock sophomore, Ian Mileikis drained a deep three-pointer for the Monks to bring the visitors within one (12-11).

The teams went back and forth with made layups and big defensive stops for the remainder of the half. Strong defense prevailed as the first half closed at a low score of 25-24, with the Monks taking the lead.

SECOND HALF

The AMCATS came out firing in the second half with a three-pointer made by Perette with just 30 seconds off the clock. Just seconds later Rapoza found his way through defenders to put up a layup, extending the AMCAT lead to 29-25.

With 18 minutes on the clock Perette and Berry knocked down back to back three-pointers for the AMCATS and Monks. Berry drained his third three-pointer of the night just seconds later to give Saint Joseph's the 33-32 lead. Over the next five minutes the AMCAT defense would only allow one three-pointer by Marc Corey while the Monks would only allow the AMCATS to add a layup from Rapoza and a pair of free throws from Chris Contento (Marshfield, Mass.). With 14 minutes on the clock the teams were tied at 36 points apiece.

The AMCATS and Monks brought the score to a tie two more times over the remainder of the game. Saint Joseph's went on a 5-1 run, in the last seven minutes of play, including two more three-pointers by Berry and a three-pointer made by sophomore guard, Ben Malloy with 41 seconds on the clock to take the final victory of 65-54.

 

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Anna Maria College Men's Basketball team host Mount Ida on Thursday, Dec. 1st for a 5:30 p.m. GNAC contest. Saint Joseph's College of Maine is on the road again as they travel to Suffolk University for a GNAC contest starting at 3:15 p.m.