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AUGUSTA – Saint Joseph’s coach Rick Simonds frequently reminds Jimmy Ahern he’s the last option in the Monks’ offensive scheme.
During Monday night’s Maine Athletic Conference men’s basketball championship game, the speedy 5-foot-7 point guard was his team’s most effective option.
Ahern scored all 14 of his points in the last 121/2 minutes to help lift Saint Joseph’s to a 61-54 victory over archrival Husson College of Bangor at the Augusta Civic Center.
“They were really overplaying C.J. [Vose] and Bilal [Dawan-Abdullah], who obviously are our two big scorers,” Ahern said. “I’m normally the last option, but I figured I could take advantage of that.”
The 18-9 Monks, playing their final game as a member of the MAC, have earned a trip to the NAIA Division II Men’s National Tournament, which is scheduled for March 6-12 at Point Lookout, Mo.
Coach Warren Caruso’s top-seeded Braves, who had won three straight conference titles, closed out the season at 18-8.
The victory was sweet for Saint Joseph’s, which will become an NCAA Division III independent next season. Senior Torey McPherson of Mapleton had been waiting for the chance to beat Husson his entire career.
“It’s the best feeling I’ve ever had in my life,” McPherson said. “We knew it was going to come down to the last 30 seconds. We knew it was going to come down to foul shots and the little things. You can’t go out any better than that.”
Ahern’s seven-foot runner off glass gave SJC a 52-50 edge with 1:12 to play. After Husson’s Robert Pilsbury missed a 17-footer, McPherson rebounded and Dawan-Abdullah was fouled and made two free throws.
The teams then traded two free throws twice, with Ahern making four in a row for the Monks to keep the lead at four points (58-54) with 19 seconds left. Husson’s Quinson Lancaster followed with an airball 3-pointer, which led to another foul shot by Dawan-Abdullah, whose steal and layup iced it with 2.8 seconds remaining.
“You’ve got to be ahead late,” Simonds said. “Then it becomes a possession game and a free throw game. If you’re playing catchup, it’s very difficult and that’s what they were doing.”
Brandon Stewart scored 14 points for Saint Joseph’s, while Dawan-Abdullah provided 13 points and 10 rebounds. Vose added 10 points.
Pilsbury tossed in 19 points and handed out five assists to pace Husson. Randy Fletcher netted 13, while Nate Cyr added nine.
Both teams played aggressive defense, but it was offensive execution that enabled the Monks to prevail. SJC shot 48 percent from the floor, while the Braves struggled to a 34 percent effort.
“I think over 40 minutes, their execution was more consistent than ours was on the offensive end of the floor. I think that was the biggest difference in the game,” said Caruso, whose team went scoreless for six minutes in the second half.
Husson made only one field goal in the last 11 minutes.
“We both played pretty patient and we both had some open looks and I think they just made a couple more than we did,” Caruso added.
Husson had grabbed its largest lead of the game at 41-36 on a Pilsbury 3-pointer with 12:48 to play, but Ahern and the Monks answered. The sophomore, who had spent the entire first half running the offense and distributing the ball, fired in a short runner from the lane at the 12:31 mark for his first points of the contest.
“Teams have been packing it in on us, big time. Tonight they laid off me and fortunately I was able to get to the basket,” Ahern said.
Ahern wound up scoring eight of his team’s 10 points during that stretch, including a 15-foot turnaround jumper, a 16-footer and a 17-footer as Saint Joseph’s grabbed a 46-44 lead with 8:34 left.
“To his credit, he came up big and stepped up and made some shots,” Caruso said.
Ironically, Simonds has spent much of Ahern’s first two seasons trying to control his urge to shoot the basketball.
“He looks to score too much and that’s why I get frustrated, because I want a point guard who distributes,” Simonds said. “I’ve been real hard on him, but boy he really came through today,” Simonds said. “He’s got a big heart.”
Monks 61, Braves 54
Saint Joseph’s (18-9) Husson (18-8)
Player G AG F AF TP Player G AG AF TP
Ahern 5 8 4 5 14 Fletcher 5 11 3 4 13
Vose 5 12 0 0 10 Rivera 0 4 0 0
Dwn-Abdullah 3 8 7 10 13 Lancaster 2 6
Stewart 7 10 0 0 14 Pilsbury 4 13 8 8 19
Drayer 0 1 0 0 0 Griffin 1 4 4
Seaver 2 6 0 0 6 Cunningham 1 3
Monteiro 2 4 0 0 4 Cyr 2 5 9
McPherson 0 1 0 0 0 Galley 0 0 0
Underwood 0 0 0 0 0
Pratt 0 0 0 0 0
Totals 24 50 11 15 61 15 44 16 18 54
Saint Joseph’s 32 61
Husson 30 54
3-pt. goals: Saint Joseph’s (2-10): McPherson 0-1, Vose 0-3, Seaver 2-6; Husson (8-23): Rivera 0-2, Pilsbury 3-10, Lancaster 2-5, Cyr 2-5, Cunningham 1-1
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