Men's Basketball defeats St. Joseph's (LI); advances to finals

(Nashua, NH) After losing to Endicott College in the 2012 Tip-Off Tournament Championship game, The Raiders took the court seeking their first victory of the season after an 0-2 start. In the first game of the tournament the Raiders knocked off the Saint Joseph's College Eagles by a score of 66-49.

The Raiders struggled in the first half as they shot 28% from the field and made one out of twelve three-point attempts. Luckily they were able to keep the game close and entered half-time down by a score of 25-21. However, in the second half the Raiders pulled it together and exploded for 45 including a game high 24 from senior forward Tom Poitras (Bow,NH). Poitras was a remarkable 11-18 from the field and added 8 rebounds, a game high 4 blocks and 3 assists.

Also setting the pace for the Raiders was senior Nick Walch (Dedham, MA). Walch posted his second double-double of the season with 15 points and a game high 18 rebounds. He was also a perfect 5-5 from the free throw line. Junior Jake Nelson (Nashua, NH) led the Raiders with 6 assists and contributed 10 points in the victory. In just his second game for the Raiders freshman Jonathan Johnson (Tyler, TX) racked up 9 rebounds and added 8 points in the victory.

The Saint Joseph's College Eagles dropped to 0-3 on the young season but were led by junior Darryl Charles (Middletown, NY) who led his team with 16 points, 9 rebounds and 2 blocks. Also contributing for the Eagles were Andy Laurent (Amityville, NY) and Jordan Kowalski (North Babylon, NY). They collected 8 and 6 points respectively while each grabbing 6 rebounds.

The Raiders will go on to face Endicott College on Saturday at 2:00 PM in the Championship game.

The Eagles will face Wheelock College in the third place game at noon in the Muldoon Gymnasium