John Jay Downs Bears With Hot-Shooting Second Half

NEW YORK, N.Y. – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team was deadlocked after 20 minutes with the top team in the CUNY Conference, but John Jay pulled away from the Bears in the second half to capture a 79-68 victory on Saturday evening at the Doghouse.

John Jay (11-5) shot 54 percent in the second stanza to win their fifth out of the last six, while the Bears (9-8) have reversed that mark in their last six.

Junior David Ortiz (Brooklyn, NY/Christ the King) tallied a career-high 16 points to lead the Bears, knocking down 3-of-4 from behind the arc. Sophomore Vernon Maddox (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) added 10 points and dished out four assists. Freshmen Michael Megafu (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional) and Matt O'Neill (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmund Prep) chipped in nine points each, Megafu also grabbing 10 rebounds. Sophomore David Louison (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmund Prep) pulled down a team-high 12 rebounds, scoring seven points and blocking four shots.

For John Jay, Isaiah Holman and Darryl Dennis paced all scorers with 19 points each, Holman draining four three-pointers and Dennis swiping seven assists. Jamar Harry added 14 to round out three in double figures and dished out six assists.

St. Joseph's led for most of the first half building as much as a seven-point advantage, 26-19, on a Maddox jumper at the 6:35 mark. But triples from Holman and Dennis cut into the Bears lead and the Bloodhounds went back on top – their first lead since the opening seconds – with a minute-and-a-half to before the break and both squads entered the lockers deadlocked at 34-all.

After a Jan Rogowski (Woodside, NY/St. John's Prep) jumper opened the scoring in the second stanza, a Holman jumper and trifecta, sandwiched around a Dennis steal and layup, powered a 7-0 run over two minutes that gave the Bloodhounds the lead for good. John Jay slowly increased their advantage using their improved connect rate, while the Bears managed just 31 percent (12-of-38), and the Bloodhounds built as much as a 13-point edge.

The Bears fought their way back with a 7-0 run – Ortiz sparking the spurt with a trifecta and later adding a pair of free throws – that cut the deficit to five, 66-61, with just under three minutes to play.

After the team's traded baskets, Korede Griffith landed a triple that stunted the Bears momentum, pushing the lead back up to eight, 71-63, inside the two-minute mark. For the second half, the Bloodhounds connected on 5-of-10 from three-point land. The Bears could only get as close as six and the Bloodhounds shot 8-of-10 from the stripe in the final minute to seal the win.

St. Joseph's looks to get back on track returning to the hardwood on Monday, January 21 to face The King's College in a non-conference tilt. Originally scheduled as a home game, this game will now be played at Packer Collegiate Institute in Brooklyn Heights and will be a 7:30 pm tip-off. Live stats will be available on SJCBears.com or follow @SJCBears on Twitter for updates.