Bears Rocked at Prudential Center

NEWARK, NJ – Playing for the first time at the Prudential Center, home of the New Jersey Nets, St. Joseph's play couldn't match the excitement of being on an NBA court. The Bears were dismissed by New Jersey City University (NJCU) 97-44 in a game that preceded the Nets vs. Chicago Bulls. The loss is the Bears' seventh straight and drops the team to 2-11 (1-0 HVMAC).

The game got out of hand early as NJCU scored the first 14 points of the contest. The 18 first half points marks the lowest the Bears have scored all season and the 53 point margin of the defeat was the largest since a 54 point loss to Widener in November 2009.

The Gothic Knights had the clear size advantage with eight players standing 6'4" or taller. NJCU used that disparity to dominate the glass with nearly a 2-to-1 rebounding edge (60 to 31). They also scored 46 points in the paint and 22 on second chance opportunities.

The Bears struggled to hold on to the ball, committing a season's worst 32 turnovers. Those turnovers led to 24 fast-break points for the Gothic Knights.

Sophomore Jan Rogowski (Woodside, NY/St. John's Prep) had his best performance of the season thus far, continuing his strong play after being named HVMAC Rookie of the Week earlier this week. Rogowski led St. Joseph's in scoring (14 points), rebounding (8) and steals (3). Fellow rookie Johnny Mendez (Astoria, NY/St. John's Prep) made his first start of the season and played a game high 30 minutes while chipping in six points.

NJCU (4-6, 0-2 NJAC) was led by Naadir Williams, who came off the bench to give the Gothic Knights 16, one of four players in double figures. Williams was deadly from three, hitting 4-of-7. Keith Williams added 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting while handing out four assists and swiping four steals.

The Bears return to Brooklyn for their next home game on Monday, January 10th in the second game of a double header against City Tech at 9 pm. The Lady Bears kick off the night at 7 pm.