Bears Fall on Senior Night to Lancaster Bible

BROOKLYN, NY – Senior Donald Coleman (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth) recorded a double-double in his final game as a Bear before the home crowd but the Bears couldn't send off Coleman and fellow senior Jon Matzelle (Maspeth, NY/St. Francis Prep) with a win, suffering a 77-70 setback to Lancaster Bible on Saturday night and their fourth straight loss.

The nightcap resembled the women's basketball game that preceded it with the Bears falling behind on poor first half shooting and unable to capitalize on a 2-to-1 advantage in the turnover battle. St. Joseph's jumped out to an early 13-8 lead but Lancaster Bible utilized a 14-2 run to grab the lead and maintain it until the break 37-30.

Lancaster Bible extended their lead to its largest margin of 13 early in the second half, but St. Joseph's found life midway through the period going on a 10-0 run sparked by Coleman and Johnny Mendez (Astoria, NY/St. John's Prep) giving the Bears their first lead of the game since the first half, 55-53.

The Chargers tried to pull away and took a six point lead, but St. Joseph's closed the gap again and the game was knotted up at 67-67 with 4:25 to play and the Bears found themselves in the same position as they were two days earlier in their upset bid against USCAA #1 ranked Williamson.

However, St. Joseph's would be unable to flip the script, missing their next four field goal attempts and committing three costly turnovers and in a blink of an eye, the Bears were down eight with just under two minutes to play.

For the game, Lancaster Bible held a 54-39 advantage on the glass and outshot St. Joseph's 46% to 33% negating their 28-14 discrepancy in the turnover battle.

On his senior night, Coleman set game highs with a 19 point, 11 rebound double-double. Matzelle played his final game at home with a nine point, seven rebound effort. Sophomore Jan Rogowski (Woodside, NY/St. John's Prep) was the only other Bear in double-figures with 15 points.  Johnny Mendez (Astoria, NY/St. John's Prep) had a solid outing adding nine points, six assists and four steals.

Lancaster Bible (11-13) was led by double-double performances by Erich Graybill (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Kevin Keltner (17 points, 10 rebounds). Madison Warfel contributed 15 points and dished out a game-high seven assists. Kody Koser rounded out the four Chargers in double-figures with 11 points.

St. Joseph's (6-18, 4-2 HVMAC) wraps up their regular season on the road travelling across the Verazzano Bridge to face the College of Staten Island on Tuesday, February 15th at 7:30 pm. The Bears will then begin the defense of their HVMAC title next weekend at the HVMAC Tournament facing Vaughn College in the semifinals on Saturday, February 19th at the College of New Rochelle at 4 pm.