Bears Defeat Culinary to Advance to HVMAC Championship

(BRONXVILLE, NY)  Justin Gist (Brooklyn, NY/Newsome) and Ervin Maddox(Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) combined for 38 points to lead #1 St. Joseph's to an 82-63 win over #4 Culinary Institute of America in the first semifinal of the Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference tournament held at Sarah Lawrence College.

The Bears controlled the game from the opening tip scoring on their opening possession and building an early 16-7 lead.  Culinary managed to cut the St. Joe's lead to five, but trailed by as many as 14 before finding themselves down 42-35 at halftime.

Culinary struggled offensively in the second half shooting only 27 percent for the half compared with their 45 percent first-half shooting percentage.  St. Joseph's pulled away midway through the second half with a four-minute 17-5 run, building their largest lead of the game at 24 points.  With six minutes left to play, the Bears cruised to the final buzzer and a spot in their fifth straight HVMAC Championship game.

Gist led all scorers with 20 points, on 50 percent shooting (6-for-12) and 6-for-7 shooting from the charity stripe.  He also dished out a game-high six assists and had six rebounds and two steals.  Maddox finished with 18 points on 62 percent shooting (8-for-13) and had three assists and two rebounds.  Jon Matzelle (Queens, NY/St. Francis Prep) and Przemyslaw Kudla (Brooklyn, NY/St. John's Prep) added seven points each.

Kyle Morse led the Steels with 13 points and seven rebounds and Maurice Rodgers added 12 points with a trio of assists and rebounds.

St. Joseph's will face the winner of the second semifinal game between #2 Berkeley and #3 Albany College of Pharmacy.  Should Berkeley defeat Albany Pharmacy, it will mark the fourth straight meeting between the two schools in the title game.  The Bears lost to Berkeley in 2006 and 2007, but captured their first championship last year and look to defend their title.