Nashua, NH-  Rivier (4-12, 1-8) lost a last second heart break, 77-76, that set them further back in the conference rankings to a good St. Joe's of Maine team (12-4, 7-2) as Zach O'Brien (Schenectady, NY) hit the final shot with less than a second to go to seal the game for the Monks.

Rivier Struggled on defense in the first half allowing the Monks of St. Joe's of Maine shoot 51% from the floor which included going 5-7 from behind the line.  The Raiders started a little slow to start the first period but got a spark from junior Captain Don Poitras (Bow, NH) as he had big blocked shot and a monster dunk with just over 15 minutes to go in the half.  Nick Bean ( E. Longmeadow, MA) hit a 3 pointer shortly thereafter to take a 2 point lead.  Then the Monks of St. Joseph's of Maine went on a 6 point swing starting with a nice up and under lay-up from O'Brien.  The Raiders managed to tie the game up again with a steal from Brian Troy (Keene, NH) that turned into 2 points.  Then the Monks hit two 3's in a row to extend their lead to 6.  Rivier kept it close but allowed St. Joe's to end the half with a jump shot to make the score 45-37.   St. Joe's also helped their cause in the first half by keep Rivier away from the free throw line, the Raiders did not attempt a single free throw shot in the first stanza of play.  Bean ended the half with 12 points to pace the Raiders while Anthony Savino (Portland, ME) had 10 points to lead the Monks.

St. Joe's started the 2^nd half off with an easy layup to extend the lead to 8, but Bean started off red hot for the Raiders by hitting two 3 pointers to help the Raiders go on a 10 point run and take the lead 50-48 with 14 minutes left in the game.  As the game went on, the teams traded baskets until O'Brien hit Christopher Petzy (East Kingston, NH) on a back door cut to go up by 6 on the Raiders.  Then Poitras sparked the Raiders again with another big dunk which lead to Joe Granato (Arlington, MA) hitting back to back 3's to tie the game up 70-69 with 5 minutes to go in the game.   The Monks took a 75-74 lead after the teams traded free throws for the next two minutes.  Raider point guard Will Snider (Brooklyn, NY) then drove the ball to the hole for a layup to take 1 point lead again with 2 minutes remaining.  As time was winding down, O'Brien got a shot off with just over 2 seconds on the clock and missed wide right, but followed his shot, grabbed the rebound and hit the put back with only 8 tenths of a second left to give the Monks a 77-76 lead.  Rivier tried a full court pass to get a final shot off, but failed to convert as time expired.

The Raiders played much better defense in the second half as they held the monks to 40% shooting and only 33% from the 3.  The Raiders offense also picked up a bit as they shot 87% from the line and went 6-12 from behind the arc in the second half.  But the difference of the game was the Monks went to the free throw line 9 more times than the Raiders and dominated the boards by grabbing a total of 34 rebounds in the game.

Bean lead all scorers in the game with 25 points with 5 assists on the night.  Poitras had solid game from the center position by scoring 13 points and had a game high 11 rebounds.  Granato chipped in with 15 points of his own for the Raiders.

The Monks were led by Alberto Rue ( Jamaica Plain, MA) with 18 points by going 5-7 from the floor and 7-8 from the free throw line.  O'Brien finished the game with 15 point, 6 rebounds and played a team high 36 minutes.  Petzy had a nice game for the Monks as he went 3-3 from 3 point range and end with 15 points for the game.

Rivier will continue their tough conference schedule as they host the Cadets of Norwich this coming Thursday with a 7:30 start at the Muldoon Health and Fitness Center.   Meanwhile the Monks will host Emerson College on the same night and same time to fight for the top spot in the GNAC.