Top 10 Moments: #2 – Brooklyn Sweeps Patchogue in East vs. West Tripleheader

It's billed as a friendly rivalry between the two campuses of St. Joseph's College, but for the students and the student-athletes, it's about bragging rights.

The East vs. West tripleheader has been the most anticipated date on the calendar when the sibling rivalry restarted in 2008. For the first five tripleheaders, Brooklyn had only captured two victories overall – one in women's basketball in 2008 and one in men's basketball in 2012.

But that would change this year in front of a spirited home crowd as the Bears and Lady Bears would take a clean sweep of the Golden Eagles.

The Lady Bears swimming team led off the evening with a 52-43 victory, which came down to the wire. The 200-yard freestyle relay squad of Morgan Summers, Erin Collins, Jaclyn Montana and Jillian O'Hara captured a four-second triumph in the final event to clinch their first victory over the Golden Eagles in six meetings all-time.

When the action moved upstairs to the court, the Lady Bears basketball team trailed by one point at the break, 27-26, but opened the second half on a 21-2 run and held the Golden Eagles to just 13 points in the period to cruise to a 54-40 victory to clinch Brooklyn's first overall win of the series.

Taylor Raccuglia scored a team-high 15 points, pulled down 19 rebounds and swatted away five shots, falling one shy of the record in the last two categories. Samantha Retas notched 11 points and 16 rebounds to record the fourth of her nine double-doubles on the season.

In the feature matchup, the standing-room only crowd was treated to a close game that went down to the wire and featured eight ties and four lead changes.  Like their female counterparts, the Bears trailed by a slim margin at the break, 40-37. After trailing by three late in the game, a David Louison layup followed by a Michael Megafu trifecta put the Bears up 76-74 with under two minutes to play.

A pair of free throws from Franciso Escobedo with 17 ticks left maintained an 80-77 lead and Matt O'Neill made a key play on the defensive end knocking the ball away, disrupting the Eagles final possession and forcing a desperation shot to tie giving the Bears their second straight win over their rivals.

Megafu shot 9-for-11 from the floor to lead three Bears with double-figures with a team-high 27 points. O'Neill added 15 points and four assists and Louison posted a near double-double with 12-points and nine rebounds.

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Our summer feature on www.SJCBears.com, we look back at the highlights from the 2013-2014 season in St. Joseph's College Brooklyn Athletics. We will reveal a new moment on the list every Tuesday throughout the summer ending in August right before the start of the new season. 

#10 – Urshela's Bicycle Kick Goal Highlights Home Opener Win
#9 – Men's & Women's Volleyball Grabs HVIAC Runner Up
#8 – Another One for the Record Books
#7 – Parr Strings Eight-Match Win Streak 
#6 – Softball Wins Sixth Straight Tournament Title 
#5 – Men's Basketball Crowned HVIAC Champions
#4 – Women's Basketball Downs Maine-Fort Kent at USCAA Nationals
#3 – First Postseason Win Caps 29-Win Baseball Season
#2 – Brooklyn Sweeps Patchogue in East vs. West Rivalry
#1 – Check back on September 2nd!