Men give Husson split with Monks St. Joe’s women top Braves

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BANGOR – St. Joseph’s College boasts one of the Maine Athletic Conference’s top offensive players in 6-foot-9 forward C.J. Vose.

The problem for the Monks Thursday night was the Husson Braves possessed various offensive threats with which they had to contend.

Husson kept the pressure on with a fast-paced, attack-the-basket style while posting a 94-84 victory on its way to the MAC regular-season title at Newman Gym.

Coach Warren Caruso’s Braves improved to 19-4, including an 11-1 conference record, and have earned a first-round bye for the upcoming MAC Tournament.

The Monks slipped to 14-10 and 8-3 and are battling UMaine-Fort Kent for the No. 2 seed.

In Thursday’s women’s game, St. Joseph’s (19-4, 10-1) locked up the regular-season title and the No. 1 seed with a 70-57 victory over the Braves (14-9, 7-4).

The Husson men never seriously distanced themselves from St. Joseph’s, but the Braves were able to maintain the upper hand most of the way.

Vose connected for 22 of his game-high 34 points in the first half, but the hosts were able to slow him down after intermission.

“We might have talked about that at halftime,” Caruso said. “I think it became much more difficult for him to score in the second half.”

Meanwhile, Husson took advantage of its overall quickness and versatility during a couple of key second-half scoring spurts that provided a more comfortable cushion.

Robert Pilsbury was the Braves’ offensive catalyst, pouring in 21 of his team-high 27 points after intermission. He kept St. Joseph’s guessing by balancing his 3-point shooting and his slashing moves to the basket.

However, he received plenty of help from efficient center Randy Fletcher, who scored 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting, grabbed six rebounds, and blocked five shots.

Power forward Matt Breen provided 19 points and six rebounds, while Ryan Rivera added nine points and Scott Griffin had eight. The Braves shot 51 percent.

“I think everybody stepped up and played their roles,” Pilsbury said. “We got a lot of great contributions off the bench and from the starters.”

Husson made its first move with a 9-3 spurt covering two minutes. Pilsbury scored five of those points as the hosts turned a 49-47 edge into a 58-50 lead with 12:00 to play.

The Braves finally gained some breathing room four minutes later. Rivera and Fletcher converted conventional three-point plays and Pilsbury nailed a 3-pointer during a 9-2 run that put Husson on top 71-59 with 8:14 left.

The Braves led by as many as 15.

“We’ve got some kids who can score, too,” Caruso said. “We’re finding good balance with a bunch of different guys contributing.”

Mike Ifill and Leroy Gore netted 12 points each for the Monks, who shot 52 percent from the field in defeat. Chris Willer had six assists.

In the women’s contest, St Joseph’s pulled in front early, then wound up trading second-half scoring runs while finally emerging with a 13-point victory.

Husson hung around, thanks in part to its ability to hold St. Joseph’s scoreless for nearly 61/2 minutes in the second half. However, coach Mike McDevitt’s Monks overcame the turnover-plagued slump by answering the Braves’ comeback threat.

“It was like a cat playing with a mouse that didn’t want to kill it,” McDevitt said. “We started the second half with a run, they made a better run, then we had another one.”

Stacy Gelinas paced St. Joseph’s with a game-high 22 points and nine rebounds, while Cassie Turcotte chipped in with 15 points and eight rebounds. Carolyn Brown added 13 points.

Katie Nye led Husson with 17 points and Liz Boone netted 12. Liza Doughty had six points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists, while Leslie Trott added six points, 10 assists, six steals, and five blocked shots.

The Monks had built a 46-31 advantage early in the second half, only to go into a funk. However, St. Joseph’s played good enough defense amidst its lull to keep the Braves from getting even.

Trailing 50-39, Nye ignited an 8-0 Husson rally. She opened the run with two free throws and Kelly Dow followed with a 12-foot bank-in.

Nye then converted a driving shot and hit a short fall-away shot to get the Braves within 50-47 with 7:11 to play. However, the Monks answered.

Turcotte hit a baseline layup off a feed from Brown, who buried a wide-open 3-pointer 30 seconds later. Gelinas’ close-range hoop pushed St. Joseph’s lead back to 10 with 5:36 left.

Husson made one more charge as Boone scored six unanswered points, but two Gelinas free throws and a Jen Marsh basket from underneath made it an eight-point game with 2:33 remaining.

“Every time we got it down to five or three, they would have some answer,” said Husson coach Kissy Walker. “I thought the girls played hard.”

St. Joseph’s emerged with a 49-39 rebounding edge. Husson shot only 32 percent from the field, including a 2-for-14 effort from the 3-point arc.

The Monks got the better of the first-half action, building a 39-31 halftime lead.

Brown scored six points to spark an 8-0 run that gave St. Joseph’s the early advantage and the visitors built their lead to as many as 12 points. The Monks were able to establish dribble penetration and attack the basket consistently.

Braves 94, Monks 84

St. Joseph?s 84 Husson 94

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

Underwood 1 5 0 2 2 Fletcher 8 12 2 3 18

Gore 4 9 2 2 12 Lancaster 1 4 5

Vose 14 23 5 6 34 Russo 1 2 2 5

Ifill 4 5 2 2 12 Pilsbury 11 23 27

Seaver 3 8 0 2 7 Breen 6 11 7 19

Willer 1 2 2 2 4 Rivera 3 8 3 9

Ventry 0 1 0 0 0 Brown 0 0 0 0

Pelletier 2 3 2 4 7 Robb 1 1 3

Drayer 3 5 0 0 6 Griffin 1 2 6 8

Totals 32 61 13 20 84 Totals 32 63 25 31 94

St. Joseph?s 39 84

Husson 41 94

3-pt. goals: St. Joseph?s (7-11): Gore 2-2, Vose 1-2, Ifill 2-2, Seaver 1-4, Pelletier 1-1; Husson (5-20): Lancaster 0-2, Russo 1-2, Pilsbury 3-10, Breen 0-2, Rivera 0-3, Robb 1-1

Attendance: 350 (est.)

Monks 70, Braves 57

St. Joseph?s Husson women

Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG F AF TP

C. Brown 5 13 2 2 13 Trott 3 15 6

Marsh 2 5 1 2 5 Weed 2 11 0 4

Picard 1 8 4 4 6 Nye 6 11 3 17

K. Brown 1 2 0 1 2 Doughty 1 11 6

Gelinas 6 12 8 9 22 Dow 3 10 0 6

Gill 2 3 0 0 5 Allen 2 3 0 4

Burrell 1 2 0 0 2 Comeau 0 0 0 0

Rice 0 3 0 0 0 Hughes 1 3 0 2

Turcotte 6 10 3 4 15 Cole 0 2 Boone 5 7 2 2 12

Totals 24 58 18 22 70 Totals 23 73 9 57

St. Joseph?s 39 70

Husson 31 57

3-pt. goals: St. Joseph?s (4-12): C. Brown 1-4, Gelinas 2-5, Gill 1-1, Turcotte 0-1; Husson (2-14): Trott 0-3, Weed 0-4, Nye 2-2, Doughty 0-2, Dow 0-2, Cole 0-1