Bears Take Care of Pratt in First HVMAC Game

BROOKLYN, NY - The Bears kicked off their Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference schedule with a 70-49 victory over the Pratt Institute. Jan Rogowski (Woodside, NY/St. John's Prep) led the Bears with 12 points and Ismael Dabo (Bloomfield, NJ/St. John's Prep) turned in his second double-double in as many games scoring 11 and grabbing 11 boards. With the win the Bears improve to 2-4 and 1-0 in the conference.

St. Joseph's used its entire rotation, as all 11 players logged at least ten minutes of playing time for the first time this season. The Bears were in a tight battle taking a six point lead into the break. The game was tied at 26 apiece before St. Joseph's opened things up on a 6-0 run to close out the half. Dabo and Donald Coleman (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth) each had eight points to lead the Bears in the opening period.

The Bears came out firing after the break, connecting on four of seven shots. The hot shooting lasted throughout the game as the Bears shot 42.5% from the floor in the half. Playing in his first game since the opener, freshman Johnny Mendez (Astoria, NY/St. John's Prep) facilitated the offense during his 19 minutes. Mendez stepped off the bench to provide the Bears with energy and creativity running the point. He finished with a game high seven assists while also scoring eight points and pulling down three rebounds.

Pratt was able to keep the contest in question until late in the second half, but the Bears proved to be too much for the Cannoneers, taking a double digit lead for the first time with 13:27 remaining and never looking back. Rogowski had the hot hand for the Bears in the second half, scoring eight points on 4 of 5 shooting.

The Bears defense was able to make up for any offensive shortcomings with a season high 17 steals, led by Antoine Forehand (New York, NY/Rice) with five. St. Joseph's also held a distinct advantage inside, outrebounding the Cannoneers 55-35 and outscoring them 46-12 in the paint.

St. Joseph's filled out the scorecard, with each player grabbing at least two rebounds. The last time the Bears pulled that off was January 21st, 2009.

Pratt was led by Paul Eniva-Ze who had 14 rebounds and five blocked shots.

The Bears are back in action on Saturday, December 4th as they travel to Newark, NJ to take on Division I New Jersey Institute of Technology. Tip-off is scheduled for 2:00 pm.