Men's Basketball pushes Monks to 2OT, fall 96-87

(Nashua, NH) The Rivier University Men's Basketball team tied the game within the final 30 seconds in regulation and again in the first overtime but were not able to defeat the visiting Saint Joseph's College Monks this afternoon at the Muldoon Gymnasium in a Great Northeast Athletic Conference Contest. Saint Joseph's was able to score 12 points in the second overtime to win 96-87. Rivier falls to 3-4 overall and 0-2 in the GNAC while the Monks improve to 4-4 overall and a perfect 3-0 in the conference.

The Raiders were led by senior Tom Poitras (Bow, NH) who knocked down the game tying 3-pointer in the first overtime as he finished with 25 points on the night. Classmates Nick Walch (Dedham, MA) added 19 points, 8 rebounds and Shawn Gareau (Hardwick, MA) hit both of his three-point attempts for 6 points. Junior Jake Nelson (Nashua, NH) also contributed 14 points in the loss.

Saint Joseph's saw their senior Matthew Medeiros (Westport, MA) record his 1,000th career point as he led all scorers with 29 points – including seven three pointers. Junior Steve Simonds (Steep Falls, ME) added 23 points on 9-of-16 shooting and senior Nick Jobin (Westbrook, ME) chipped in with 15 points in the win. The Monks also received double-digit efforts from Jerome Diggs (Washington, DC) and Zach Blodgett (Glenburn, ME) who finished with 11 and 10 points, respectively.

The Raiders will return to the court as they travel to Anna Maria College for a 7pm GNAC contest. This was Saint Joseph's final game of 2013 as they will travel to Washington, DC for the Catholic University Classic Tournament on January 4th and 5th.