Bears Knock Off USCAA No. 7 Ranked Apprentice in Thriller, 64-61

BROOKLYN, N.Y. –  Freshman Michael Megafu (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional) made a pair of free throws with :08.7 left to erase a nine-point deficit as the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team held the Apprentice School scoreless over the final 5:27 to take a 64-61 victory in a United States Collegiate Athletic Association battle on Friday night at Brooklyn Technical High School.

In the latest USCAA Coaches' Poll released just prior to the game, Apprentice (4-4) was ranked No. 7 after ranked as high as No. 5, while St. Joseph's (5-2) entered the poll ranked tied at No. 15.  The Bears defense also held the high-scoring Builders who entered the game averaging 78.1 points a game, to only 61 points and 33 percent shooting.

Megafu grabbed a game- and career-high 16 rebounds and finished 4-of-4 from the charity stripe, an area the Bears have struggled of late, shooting 47 percent (8-for-17) as a team for the contest.

Senior Jan Rogowski (Woodside, NY/St. John's Prep) got the Bears off to a 36-28 advantage at the break draining 5-of-7 from behind the arc to lead all scorers with 15 points at halftime.  Rogowski finished with a game-high 17 points and grabbed four rebounds.

Sophomore David Louison, the USCAA leading rebounder heading into the game, recorded his fifth double-double of the season netting 10 points and grabbing 12 rebounds.

Apprentice was led by Lance Darden who scored 13 points coming off the bench.  Latrone Demiel added 12 points, draining 4-of-8 from three-point land.  Two-time USCAA All-American and reigning Player of the Week Tevin Andrews was held to 10 points, entering the game averaging 19.9 a clip. Andrews also grabbed eight rebounds.

After leading for most of the first half, the Bears used a 10-0 run over a two-minute span, sparked by a pair of triples from Kevin Alesi (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) and Rogowski, to build a 33-21 lead with 2:10 remaining in the half, their largest lead in the game. 

The Bears lost their momentum at the break and 16 second-half turnovers stalled the offense allowing the Builders back into the game.  A 12-4 Builder run leveled the game at 46-all just before the midway point of the stanza.  Emitt Hightower (Brooklyn, NY/Immaculata (NJ) knocked down a jumper to give the Bears a slight lead, but a three-ball from Darden gave the Builders their first lead of the half and the Builders pulled away to a 61-52 advantage, before hitting a scoring drought.

Sophomore Vernon Maddox (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) who has been a spark plug for the Bears offense, helped ignite the comeback scoring six of the Bears final 12 points over the final 5:27.  Maddox finished with eight points and three assists.

After chipping away at the Builder lead, Louison went 1-for-2 at the stripe with :52 left to bring the Bears within one, 61-60.  After a flurry of missed shots from both squads, Megafu forced a steal and was fouled with :08.7 remaining and sent to the line in the double bonus.

Megafu rattled in both free throws to give the Bears back the lead, 62-61.  On the ensuing inbounds pass to halfcourt, the Builders stepped out of bounds giving the ball back to the Bears.  Maddox was quickly fouled and also sank both free throws to push the lead to three.

Apprentice managed to get a look at a tying three-pointer but fell short as time expired.