Number one ranked Mount St. Joseph went on the road to face the second ranked Panthers of St. Frances, looking to lock up the outright BCL championship and at worst, a share of the MIAA championship. Though it wasn't easy, their mission is accomplished.

The Gaels jumped out to an 11 point halftime lead, behind 17 first half points from Eric Atkins, then went ice cold for a quarter and a half, as the Panthers actually took a brief 4th quarter lead, before St. Joe rallied for the 69-68 victory. It was truly a team victory for the Gaels as everyone had a hand in the win. Atkins(19 pts) and Riley Beaumont(17pts) were steady as usual, but it was Matt Miller(12pts) and David Windsor(8pts) who came up with the clutch shots late in the 4th quarter.

After being held scoreless in their last meeting, the Panthers Dante Holmes came out smoking in this one, scoring 10 points in the first quarter and finishing with a game high 23. He also scored his 1,000th career point in the first half. Wayne Sparrow scored 14 points and Greg Lewis had a nice all around evening, finishing with 7 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocked shots.

Both teams came out blazing in the first quarter as St. Joe grabbed the early 25-24 advantage after 1 on 9-14 shooting from the field. The Panthers shot 10-16 in the quarter themselves. St. Joe held a slight 3 point lead with less than a minute to go before the half when the Panthers seemed to lose some self control. Brian Morton scored a basket to up the Gael lead to 40-37. On the play, the Panthers Eddie Tarver was called for a technical foul and Miller made both foul shots to push the lead to 44-37. St. Joe was able to keep possession of the ball as well and Atkins held for the final shot, where he was fouled with just 2 seconds remaining. Following that play Sam Cassell Jr. was whistled for another Panthers technical. Atkins made all 4 free throws and just like that the lead was 11 at the half.

The Panthers raised up their defensive intensity in the third and started to chip away at the St. Joe lead. Holmes scored as many points in the quarter as the Gaels did, 7, and at the end of three it was 55-52 St. Joe. The Gaels finished the quarter going 3-15 from the field.

The Panthers started the fourth on a 6-0 run, and back to back baskets by Sparrow gave them a 59-55 lead with a little over 4 minutes remaining. Beaumont ended the drought for the Gaels with a huge three to get them within one and then Miller scored on their next possession to give them back the lead at 60-59, one in which they would not relinquish. Lewis had a chance to tie it at 64 with 2 minutes reaining when he was fouled on a made basket, but he missed the ensuing free throw. That is when Windsor responded with a three pointer to bump the Gaels lead back to 4 at 67-63. With less than a minute to go Holmes came up with a big steal and an assisst on a Karrell Goines basket to get the Panthers within 1 at 67-66. On it's next possession St. Joe moved the ball around and worked the clock to near perfection before Windsor found a wide open Miller on a back door cut for an easy layup with only 15 seconds left. St Frances called timeout, one would think to set up a game tying three point attempt. Instead, Goines drove to the hoop and got a 2 point basket with less than 5 seconds remaining. The Panthers then allowed 4 seconds to run off before they fouled Atkins with just one second left. Atkins missed the free throw on purpose, St. Frances got the rebound and called a timeout. While one official granted them the timeout, the other official stepped in and said the second should have elapsed on the missed foul shot and that the game was over.

In a game this close here was the biggest difference between the two teams. Mt. St. Joe went 16-19 from the free throw line while St. Frances finished a dismal 6-18. St. Joe goes to 26-2 overall and 12-0 in the MIAA, while St. Frances falls to 16-8 and 7-2.