Bears Complete Sweep of HVMAC With Win Over Culinary

(BROOKLYN, NY)  Jon Matzelle (Queens, NY/St. Francis Prep) scored a game-high 19 in an 85-77 victory over Culinary Institute of America at Brooklyn Technical High School on Sunday afternoon.  With the win, the Bears complete Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference play undefeated, going 6-0 on the season and enter the next weekend's conference tournament as the #1 seed.

St. Joseph's led the entire game, but Culinary fought throughout preventing St. Joe's from extending their lead by more than 15 in the first half.  A late run by the Steels sent the teams in the lockers with the Bears up seven, 43-36.  For the half, Culinary outshot the Bears 44 percent to 36 percent and held 30-23 rebounding advantage.

Culinary started the second half flat committing several turnovers, and the Bears opened the half on a 14-4 run to extend their lead to 17.  St. Joseph's firmly maintained their lead for the remainder of the half.  The Steels managed to cut the deficit to seven with 5:13 to play, but the Bears connected on back-to-back-to-back triples from Justin Gist (Brooklyn, NY/Newsome), Matzelle, and Przemyslaw Kudla (Brooklyn, NY/St. John's Prep) to help put the game out of reach. 

Matzelle shot 8-for-15 from the field, with 2-for-3 from behind the arc and grabbed five boards.  His 19 points ties his season-high that he posted one week ago in the win over Southern Maine.  Donald Coleman(Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth) scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds in only 19 minutes of play coming off the bench.  Gist and senior Luke Klimaszewski(Queens, NY/St. John's Prep) each added nine points, combining on 4-for-10 from three.  Gist also grabbed eight rebounds.  Coach Cocozello's bench saw significant playing time, with eleven Bears scoring a field goal.

Four players finished in double-figures for Culinary, led by Dan Jackson who had 17 points and 8 rebounds.  Sammy Sleman added 16 points and 9 rebounds.

St. Joseph's returns to action at home tomorrow facing New Jersey City University (9-14, 4-6 NJAC), playing their third game in as many days.  The Bears will celebrate Senior Night, the last home game for seniors Ervin Maddox (Staten Island, NY/St. Peters), Przemyslaw Kudla, Luke Klimaszewski and Paul Kielmanowicz(Brooklyn, NY/St. Francis Prep).  Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. with senior night festivities taking place after the game.