Bears Set Career Highs in Triumph Over Sarah Lawrence

BROOKLYN, NY – Led by a career-high 17 points from Matt Marino (Fort Wayne, IN/Rutherford) and the first career double-double for Jassiel Ferrer (Brooklyn, NY/NEST+M), the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team snapped their four-game skid cruising to a 101-34 Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference win over Sarah Lawrence College on Wednesday night.

Four Bears finished in double-figures with Marino earning game-high honors on 7-of-20 shooting and knocking down three trifectas.  Rookie Ferrer tallied 13 points, grabbed a game-high 11 rebounds and had two swats, all career-highs.  Fellow freshman Kevin Alesi(Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) drained 5-of-8 from behind the arc netting a career-high 15 points.

Also for St. Joseph's (9-12, 2-2 HVMAC), senior Justin Gist (Brooklyn, NY/Newsome) added 14 points with five rebounds.  Freshman Vernon Maddox (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) dished out a career-high six assists.  Freshman John Moore (Glendale, NY/Archbishop Molloy) chipped in a career-high seven points, which included a step-back three-pointer, the first of his career, that brought the bench to its feet.

All 13 Bears saw at least 13 minutes of action and scored a field goal to contribute to the highest offensive output this season.  The Bears also sank 17 three-pointers, connecting at a 43 percent rate (40 attempts), matching the school record set last season in the win over Staten Island.

Sarah Lawrence (2-10, 0-4 HVMAC) was led by Kyle Kouri who had 12 points and Nick Streltzov chipped in nine.  Francias Oppong grabbed a team-high eight boards.

Gist scored seven points in the first four minutes and the Bears raced out to a 17-2 lead and never looked back.  The Bears' defense held the Gryphons to only two field goals over the first 10 minutes and they connected on 56 percent (24-of-43) in the half, including 11 trifectas, to balloon their advantage to 62-16 at the intermission.

St. Joseph's finished the game with 44 percent (39-of-88) shooting while the Gryphons were held to an opponent-low 26 percent (14-of-53).  The Bears also had a large rebounding advantage (58-35) and the offense committed a season-low eight turnovers.

St. Joseph's resumes a three-game stretch of conference games hosting Albany College of Pharmacy on Saturday, February 4th as the marquee matchup of the Alumni, Family & Friends Doubleheader.  The alumni game starts the action at Brooklyn Technical High School at 2 p.m., followed by the women facing the Panthers at 5 p.m. and the men at 7:30 p.m.  Fans unable to attend the doubleheader can watch the live video webcast onwww.sjcbears.com.