Trinity Pulls Away From Bears Late in Second Half

HARTFORD, CT – The St. Joseph's College men's basketball team hung close with Trinity College until the Bantams pulled away from the Bears with a late run, taking a 72-53 victory at the Oosting Gymnasium on Wednesday evening.  Junior Justin Gist (Newsome, FL/Newsome) led St. Joseph's with 18 points.

St. Joseph's managed an early 10-5 lead, but a 12-0 run gave Trinity a 17-10 lead.  The Bears hung close for the remainder of the half, keeping the lead in single digits, and trailing by only seven at the intermission, 30-23.

The Bantams opened their lead to 10 on multiple occasions early in the second stanza, but St. Joseph's prevented Trinity from pulling away slowly cutting into the Bantams advantage.  Larry Fawcett (Middle Village, NY/Christ the King) continued his clutch shooting from outside, nailing a three-pointer at the 10:46 mark to cut the lead to three, 43-40.  Fawcett hit another triple with 7:05 remaining to bring the Bears within two points, 49-47.  Trinity then went on a 15-4 run to build their largest lead of the game at 13 with just under three minutes to play and St. Joseph's was unable to recover.

Trinity outshot St. Joseph's 43 percent to 36 percent.  The Bantams also held a 47-29 rebounding advantage and scored 16 second chance points, while the Bears managed only two. 

Gist also dished out three assists and pulled down a team-high tying seven rebounds.  Junior Jon Matzelle (Maspeth, NY/St. Francis Prep) shared the honor, snapping his streak of three straight double-doubles.  Senior Lew Monaco (Staten Island, NY/Msgr. Farrell) added 14 points and three steals.  Fawcett finished with six points and grabbed five-rebounds.

Trinity junior Luke MacDougall (Baldwinsville, NY/Charles W. Baker)led all scorers with a 29 point, 13 rebound double-double.  Four Bantams finished in double figures with sophomore Chris Applegate (High Point, NC/High Point Central) collecting 14 points and nine rebounds, sophomore Salah Abdo (Chelsea, MA/St. Mark's) adding 11 points and seven rebounds and freshman Mick Distasio (Yarmouth, ME/Cheverus) adding 12 points.

St. Joseph's (2-12) returns to Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference action this weekend facing perennial rival Berkeley College on Saturday, January 23.  Tip-off is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Borough of Manhattan Community College.