BOX SCORE

BRUNSWICK, Maine - Saint Joseph's Chris Petzy enjoyed a perfect night from the field and a team-high 22 points as the Monks men's basketball team held off Bowdoin in a thriller on Wednesday evening, 83-82. The Polar Bears, who had three chances to win it in the closing moments, fall to 7-3 this season. The Monks improve to 8-1.

In a game that featured nine ties and 11 lead changes, the squads put on a thrilling show for the Morrell Gymnasium crowd. Petzy connected on a trio of three-pointers and the St. Joseph pressure forced 11 Bowdoin turnovers as the visitors held a slim 37-36 edge at intermission. A 6-0 spurt after halftime regained the lead for Bowdoin, but the Monks were able to respond later in the half with a personal 5-0 run by Tyler Kelley and carried an 81-78 lead into the final minute of play.

A layup by Mark Phillips closed the gap to 81-80 but after a pair of free-throws by St. Joseph's Zach O'Brien with 24 seconds left, the Monks led 83-80. Ryan O'Connell just missed a game-tying three-pointer with 12 seconds left, but teammate Will Hanley flew in for the offensive board, netted the rebound and was fouled with 11 ticks left, giving the sophomore forward a chance to tie the game.

His free-throw attempt rimmed out, but deflected off a St. Joseph's defender out of bounds. The ball was inbounded to Hanley, who missed a 10-footer. Mike Hauser grabbed the rebound and found O'Connell, whose three-point miss came to the hands of Phillips, who could not handle the put-back rebound that trickled out just as the buzzer sounded.

Phillips and Hanley were stellar as Bowdoin dominated the paint to the tune of a 56-18 point advantage in the lane. Phillips finished with 22 points and nine rebounds for the Polar Bears, while Hanley netted 21 and 10. O'Connell connected for five three-pointers and had 19 for the contest as Bowdoin held a 41-25 edge on the boards.

St. Joseph's made up the difference at the free-throw stripe, connecting on 21 of 23 attempts to Bowdoin's 3 of 7. In addition to Petzy, three other Monks saw double figures, including O'Brien (17), Ray Eatmon (14) and Kelley (11).