Bears Defense Clamps Down in Triumph Over Sarah Lawrence

BRONXVILLE, N.Y. – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team snapped a two-game skid and cruised to a 71-20 triumph over Sarah Lawrence College in a Hudson Valley Men's Athletic Conference matchup on Noyes Court on Wednesday night.

The Bears (11-10, 2-1 HVMAC) moved again above the .500 mark holding the Gryphons (4-12, 0-5) to a opponent season-lows in scoring and field-goal percentage (16.7%)—a category they currently rank No. 22 in Division III.

Sophomore David Louison (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmund Prep) led 10 Bears to score a field goal, netting a game-high 17 points, pulling down a team-high eight rebounds and swatting three shots. Freshman Michael Megafu (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional) tallied 12 points, the only other scorer in double figures, also grabbing seven boards and swiping four steals.

Junior Matt Marino (Fort Wayne, IN/Rutherford) chipped in nine points coming off the bench and fellow junior David Ortiz (Brooklyn, NY/Christ the King) added seven points. Freshman Matt O'Neill (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmund Prep) dished out a game-high seven assists.

The Gryphons were led by John Collector who had five points and collected a game-high nine rebounds. Greg Smith added four points.

St. Joseph's opened the scoring with nine straight points, six from Louison layups. Sarah Lawrence countered with three baskets to cut the deficit to 9-6 with 14:18 to play, but that would be the closest the hosts would get, the Bears ballooning the lead to 13 with a 12-2 run capped by an Ian Duff (Jamaica, NY/Christ the King) trifecta and expanded it into a 43-16 advantage at the intermission.

The pace slowed considerably in the second half and the Bears held the Gryphons to only two field goals and four points in the second stanza.

For the game, the Bears shot 45 percent (29-of-65) and turned to their defense which forced 28 turnovers off a team season-high 21 thefts that led to 34 Bears' points.

St. Joseph's continues a stretch of four-straight HVMAC games traveling to Albany on Saturday, February 2 to take on Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences in a doubleheader with the women. The Lady Bears tip-off at 2 p.m. followed by the Bears at 4 p.m.