Bears Return from Break With Loss to Centenary

HACKETTSTOWN, NJ – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team came up short in another late rally attempt, falling 74-66 to host Centenary College (N.J.) in the opening round of the Comfort Inn Holiday Classic on Thursday evening.

St. Joseph's (4-7) was led by senior Justin Gist (Brooklyn, NY/Newsome) who netted a game-high 18 points with six rebounds and team-high tying three assists. Freshman David Louison (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmund Prep) recorded his fifth double-double of the season adding 13 points and pulling down a team-high 11 boards. Junior Jan Rogowski (Woodside, NY/St. John's Prep) tallied 14 points, secured eight caroms and had three helpers. Freshman Kevin Alesi (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) added 10 points to round out the four Bears in double-figures.

Centenary (6-5) was powered by balanced attack from their starting five, all scoring in double digits, led by Warren Murphy who had 15 points. Larry Lenahan scored 10 points and grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds for the double-double.

The Bears didn't show many signs of a 17 day layoff, connecting on 12-of-30 (40%) in the opening half, hitting the 40 percent mark for only the fourth time this season. But despite outshooting the opposition, the Bears trailed by one or two possessions for most of the period, thanks to an opportunistic Cyclones team who led 10-2 in points off turnovers. Centenary pushed their lead to eight on two occasions, before St. Joseph's closed the gap, trailing only 32-30 at the intermission.

A layup and a trifecta from Rogowski to begin the second half gave St. Joseph's their first lead since taking a 2-0 lead to open the game. Both teams traded the lead before the Cyclones took the lead for good surging past with an 11-0 run in 3:29, to lead 50-40 just before the midway point of the half.

But the Bears fought to the very end, as they have done all season, and Gist scored nine of his 11 second half points in the final seven minutes to help the Bears claw back within reach. A Gist three-point play at the 1:41 mark brought St. Joseph's within one possession, 66-63. But the lid was shut on the Bears in the final minutes, unable to record a field goal, and Centenary put the game away at the line, connecting on 8-for-8 from the stripe.

St. Joseph's will face Lehman College tomorrow in the consolation game at 2 p.m. setting up back-to-back meetings with the Lightning as they will come to Brooklyn Technical High School to open the new year on January 4th. Centenary will face Montclair State in the championship at 4 p.m.