St. Joseph’s Comes Up Short in Cross Town Rivalry

BROOKLYN, NY - Freshman guard Johnny Mendez (Astoria, NY/St. John's Prep) had his most prolific game as a Bear, scoring a career high 19 points and senior Donald Coleman (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth) recorded his second double-double of the season, but it wasn't enough as St. Joseph's was defeated by the Brooklyn College Bulldogs 89-65. The loss is the sixth consecutive for the Bears and drops their record to 2-10 (1-0 HVMAC).

The game started off at a pedestrian pace with Brooklyn College holding a slight 12-7 lead eight minutes in. Things didn't pick up until halfway through the first when the teams started trading baskets. Mendez's jumper with 7:41 left brought the Bears to within four, but the Bulldogs answered with a 16-5 run to take their biggest lead of the half at 38-23.

St. Joseph's was able to hang around thanks to some clutch three point shooting towards the end of the half. The Bears hit three of four attempts from downtown with under four minutes to play, including two from junior Antoine Forehand (New York, NY/Rice). The mini rally allowed the Bears to climb back to within eight at the end of the first period.

Brooklyn College again was able to push the lead into double digits, but wasn't able to put the Bears away. After regaining a 15 point advantage on a Steven Grant layup, St. Joseph's once again dug deep to bring the deficit back to under ten on back-to-back three pointers from Forehand and freshman David Ortiz (Brooklyn, NY/Christ the King).

The Bears got to within eight with 4:10 remaining, but three pointers from Ahmad Hemingway and Jose Arroyo finally deflated St. Joseph's and Brooklyn College was able run away with the victory.

St. Joseph's eight three pointers were tied for the third most by the team all year, however the Bears couldn't keep match the touch of Bulldogs who shot over 49% from the field including 57% from behind the arc.

Mendez, Coleman and Forehand each scored over ten points and were a combined 5 for 11 from three. Coleman finished with 16 points and ten rebounds for the double-double. Freshman Jan Rogowski (Woodside, NY/St. John's Prep) played a team high 37 minutes and chipped in with nine points and eight rebounds.

Brooklyn College also had a trio of double digit scorers, led by Hemingway's 21. He and Grant cracked ten rebounds to each collect a double-double as well. Tyshawn Russell added 16 points and five assists for the Bulldogs.

The Bears will play next at the Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, home of the New Jersey Nets, in a neutral site game against NJCU. The matinee is set to tip-off at 2:30 pm.