Eagles Fly Past Bears

PATCHOGUE, NY – The East meets West battle between St. Joseph's College-Long Island and St. Joseph's College-Brooklyn concluded with the Golden Eagles' men's basketball team soaring past the Bears 96-67. Senior Donald Coleman (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth) led the Bears with a double-double, scoring 22 points and collecting 21 rebounds.  The Bears have now dropped three straight and fall to 2-7 on the year while the Eagles improve to 7-1 and winners of their last five.

The last time a Bear recorded 20 points and 20 rebounds was Luke Caccavo on January 28, 2003 in a 91-90 triple overtime win against Mount Saint Vincent.

The Bears, who have started slowly in previous games, exploded out of the gates, scoring the game's first seven points, causing the Eagles to call an early timeout. The fireworks ended there though, as the Eagles would go on 9-0 run to take the lead and wouldn't turn back. The Eagles pushed the lead to ten just after the halfway mark in the first half and the Bears were unable to bring the deficit back to single digits.

As was the case early in the season, the Bears were done in by the opposition from outside the arc. The Eagles connected on 12-of-36 three point attempts, eight in the second half alone, to rise past the Bears. Forward Steve Velasquez led the Eagles three point barrage with five, while guard Chris Jimenez chipped in with four, including three in the second half.

The Bears also struggled to hold onto the ball, committing 23 turnovers which led to 19 points for the Eagles.

Ismael Dabo (Bloomfield, NJ/St. John's Prep) and Antoine Forehand (New York, NY/Rice) were the only other Bears to record at least ten points. Dabo went 6-of-9 from the field for 12 points, while Forehand tallied ten points of his own.

Velasquez led all scorers with 25 points. He was one of six Eagles to score in double-figures.  Olivier Laurent added 15 points and dished out a game-high five assists.

The Bears have some time off before looking to right the ship at the Wesleyan University Red and Black Classic Tournament in Middletown, Connecticut on December 30th and 31st. Their first game is against Wesleyan University on the 30th. Tip off is scheduled for 5:30 pm.