Bears Roll Past Sarah Lawrence For Share of First Place

(BRONXVILLE, NY)  Men's basketball poured in 99 points in a Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference win over Sarah Lawrence on Thursday night.  Larry Fawcett (Queens, NY/Christ the King) led four Bears in double figures with 16 points.  St. Joseph's is now 4-0 in the conference and is tied with Berkeley College setting up Saturday's game to determine the regular season title.

The Bears jumped out to an early 6-0 lead on back-to-back triples from Jon Matzelle(Queens, NY/St. Francis Prep) and never looked back extending their advantage throughout the half, taking a 43-21 lead into halftime.  They continued to extend their lead in the second half, opening with a 10-2 run to go up by 30 points and coasted the rest of the way until the final buzzer, taking the 99-51 victory.

St. Joseph's shot 47 percent for the game, with an impressive 60 percent (12-for-20) from three-point land.  Fawcett scored 14 of his game-high 16 points in the second half, connecting on 4-for-6 three-pointers.  Matzelle finished with 13 points, his fifth straight game in double figures, and grabbed a game-high eight rebounds.  Lew Monaco (Staten Island, NY/Msgr. Farrell) and Kelvin Valdez (New York, NY/St. Agnes) both added 11 points. 

Alex Fox led Sarah Lawrence with 13 points and Mike Shane added 12.  The Gryphons fall to 1-7 on the season and 0-4 in conference.

St. Joseph's improves to 7-11 and undefeated in the conference at 4-0.  They host Berkeley College in the second game of the Family & Friends Appreciation Day Doubleheader on Saturday at Brooklyn Technical High School.  The Bears have not lost in to Berkeley in the regular season dating back to 2001.  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.