New Jersey City Pulls Away From Bears on Senior Night

(BROOKLYN, NY)  Sophomore Justin Gist (Brooklyn, NY/Newsome) scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds in a 90-77 loss to New Jersey City University on Monday night at Brooklyn Technical High School.  St. Joseph's falls to 11-14 and New Jersey City improves to 10-14.

New Jersey City University jumped out to an early 14-5 lead and it appeared that the Bears would not be able to match the Gothic Knight's athleticism and offensive output.  NJCU shot 52 percent in the first half, most of the attempts well contested.  The Bears showed poise and determination to secure a win for the four graduating seniors in front of the large crowd of family and friends.  Midway through the half, St. Joseph's went on a 10-1 run sparked by two 3-pointers from Lew Monaco(Staten Island, NY/Msgr. Farrell) to take a 25-24 prompting an NJCU timeout.  The Gothic Knights went on a 14-3 run over the next three minutes to go up by double digits.  St. Joseph's shooting went cold for the remainder of the half, but they managed to trail only 46-37 at halftime.

St. Joseph's relied on their long range shooting to pull back into the game.  A triple from senior Ervin Maddox(Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) capped a 14-3 run to open the half giving the Bears their third lead of the game 51-49.  It would be the last lead of the game for St. Joseph's, the Gothic Knights responding with an 18-4 run to lead by double digits again.  St. Joseph's would only be able to cut the deficit to eight, as New Jersey City's high offensive output was too much for the Bears to match.  For the game, the Gothic Knights shot 49 percent and held a 50-41 rebounding advantage.

Gist shot 9-for-11 from the charity stripe and had out five assists.  Maddox and Monaco combined to shoot for 73 percent (8-for-11) from behind the arc, each netting 12 points all on 3-pointers.  Maddox also dished out a game-high eight assists.  Jon Matzelle (Queens, NY/St. Francis Prep) added 10 points and five rebounds.  Senior Luke Klimaszewski (Queens, NY/St. John's Prep), starting in his first game this season, had 10 points.

Rashawn Smalls led New Jersey City University with a 24 points, 12 rebound double-double.  Kyle Ingram added 18 points and Josh Lopez added 11.

St. Joseph's closes out their 2008-09 season at the Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference Tournament this weekend at Sarah Lawrence College.  The Bears look to defend their first HVMAC title and enter the tournament as the #1 seed finishing the regular season undefeated at 6-0.