St. Joe’s blasts previously unbeaten Braves

STANDISH – After having lost high-scoring center Paul Searles to knee injuries before the season even began, St. Joseph’s College men’s basketball coach Rick Simonds wasn’t sure what kind of team the Monks would be.

Tuesday night, Simonds and a capacity crowd at the Currier Gym found out.

Led by the twin 20-point performances turned in by sophomore guard Jamie Header and junior forward Marcus Smith, the Monks blew away a Husson College team ranked 25th in the nation in the NAIA by the no-room-for-doubt score of 94-76.

The win upped St. Joe’s record to 2-1 and gave the Monks an early edge in the race for the Western Maine Athletic Conference title. It also snapped a four-game losing streak to the Braves dating back two years. But there was more significance, according to Simonds.

“This makes our kids believers in this year’s team,” said Simonds, now in his 12th season at SJC. “There was a letdown when we lost Searles because we thought, with him, it might be a good year. Then there was a feeling we might have to wait until next year to be a good team.”

Husson Coach Bruce MacGregor had no doubt about who was the better team this night after watching the Monks outrebound his club 53-38 and limit the Braves to a 44 percent shooting night with smothering man-to-man defense.

“They were tougher than we were,” said MacGregor, after his team slipped to 4-1. “They were mentally tougher and physically tougher. They were more than we could cope with. They played in midseason form. We were just the opposite. We didn’t play as hard. I think we may have been a little intimidated.”

Credit Header, a 6-foot-2 hustler, with being the top intimidator for the Monks. All he did was limit previously unstoppable Husson guard Raymond Alley to 14 quiet points, more than 9 below the freshman sensation’s average.

“Coach said we should play straight up and give a lot of help on him,” said Header, the former Morse High standout. “We played good help side defense. He’s been known to take bad shots and we made him take them.”

Alley’s 5-for-14 shooting night was typical of most of the Braves. Point guard Scott Nance was held to 6 points on 2-for-8 accuracy, thanks to a lockup defensive job by SJC point man Allen Fields, who scored 13 on the other end. Only standout forward Scott Brown (10-for-18, 21 points) and center Jeff Shakoor (8-for-10, 16 points) kept Husson from being completely embarrassed.

Husson’s 41 misses, in turn, helped fuel an impressive display of fastbreak basketball by the Monks.

A 9-3 blitz late in the first half turned a 25-23 St. Joe’s lead into a 34-26 edge. After Brown countered with a jumper from the left baseline for the Braves, the Monks closed out the half with a 10-2 run to grab a commanding 44-30 edge at intermission.

Husson closed to within eight (52-44) at the 14-minute mark of the second half on a pair of Alley jumpers. But Header answered with a fastbreak layup, drew a foul, and hit the free throw to put the Monks back up by 11.

The Braves hung around within 10 points as late as the 8:05 mark (65-55), but SJC forward Stephen Chase (13 points) ignited a 16-2 burst with a pair of three-point bombs to end the suspense. The rout was on.

St. Joe’s lead spiked at 86-61 with 3:10 to play.

Smith’s inside presence (he had 11 rebounds), along with 8 critical points from 6-7 junior John Maloney, neatly balanced the Monks’ attack.

“It was a big win for us,” said Header. “It shows St. Joseph’s College is ready to play ball this year.”