Men's Basketball Gameday: Bears at Medgar Evers & Pratt

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – St. Joseph's (9-8) looks to win back-to-back road games, facing borough rivals Medgar Evers College (2-16) at the Cougars Cave on Monday, January 27th for a 7 p.m. tipoff and Pratt Institute on Tuesday, January 28th at 7:30 p.m.

Game Information

St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (9-8, 2-0 HVIAC) vs.
Medgar Evers College (2-16, 1-9 CUNYAC)

Monday, January 27th • 7 p.m.
Cougars Cave • Brooklyn, N.Y.

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St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (9-8, 2-0 HVIAC) vs.
Pratt Institute (4-6, 0-2 HVIAC)

Tuesday, January 28th • 7:30 p.m.
The ARC • Brooklyn, N.Y.

Storylines

• The Bears look to reach double-digit wins for the third consecutive season and for the 11th time out of 12 seasons under Coach Cocozello.
• Sophomore Michael Megafu tries to begin a new double-double streak after falling one point shy of his ninth straight at York on Friday night.
• Junior David Louison looks for back-to-back with 20 points and has reached the 20-point threshold in three of his last five ballgames.
• Medgar Evers looks to put together their first winning streak of the season after defeating CCNY at home on Friday.
• St. Joseph's looks to win at Medgar Evers for the first time since the schools' first-ever meeting on February 9, 2004.
• The Bears look to remain undefeated in HVIAC play with a win over Pratt while the Cannoneers look for their first conference win of the season.
• St. Joseph's looks to win their 20th straight meeting against Clinton Hill rivals Pratt since 2002.

Series History

Medgar Evers owns a 6-3 edge in the all-time series over St. Joseph's, having won the last three meetings in a series that dates back to 2004.

St. Joseph's owns a perfect 19-0 mark over Pratt since 2002.

Last Meeting

After trailing by 12 with four minutes to play, the Bears managed to get within one possession in the final minute, but couldn't complete the comeback as St. Joseph's suffered a 75-70 setback to the Cougars on January 14, 2013 at Brooklyn Technical High School. Jan Rogowski led three Bears in double figures pouring in 20 points, shooting 7-of-16 from the field. Louison added 18 points and 11 rebounds.

St. Joseph's defeated the Pratt Institute, 81-38, on February 12, 2013 in their regular season finale a year ago. The Bears were led by Thomas Karasinski who had 18 points.

The Bear Facts

Last Time Out: After trailing by only three after a back-and-forth first half, St. Joseph's couldn't keep pace with a hot-shooting York College team, dropping an 86-67 decision on the road on Friday night. The Bears were led by Louison who recorded his eighth double-double of the season with a game-high 28 points and secured 11 caroms.

St. Joseph's continues their pivotal four-game stretch away from Brooklyn Technical High School, splitting the first two games of the trip, as they look to make the USCAA National Tournament for the second consecutive year.

Louison continues to lead the Bears in scoring averaging a career-high 18.1 points per game and is shooting an efficient 51.0 percent from the field. The forward has played his best basketball of the season over the last five games, averaging 24.2 points per game on 58.5 percent (48-of-82) shooting during the stretch. The junior adds 8.8 rebounds per game and has eight double-doubles on the year.

Adding toughness to the frontcourt for St. Joseph's is Megafu who continues to record double-doubles on a nightly basis, recording 11 on the year (No. 4 in Division III). The forward had his first game without a double-double since December 6th at Hunter, snapping a stretch of eight in a row. The sophomore averages a career-high 16.1 points per game at a 55.4 percent shooting clip and brings down a team-high 10.7 boards per game (No. 29 in Division III).

Leading the Bears in the backcourt is sophomore Matt O'Neill and junior Vernon Maddox who average 10.2 and 9.8 points per game, respectively. O'Neill comes into tonight's game having scored 16 points in back-to-back games and has posed problems for opposing players, averaging a team-high 2.5 steals per game (No. 18 in Division III). Maddox comes in as the team's primary facilitator of the offense, dishing out a team-best 4.4 helpers per game.

Cub Scouting

Last Time Out: Medgar Evers picked up their first win since November 17th with a 77-72 triumph over CCNY on Friday night. The Cougars were led by Edgar Benedith who had a team-high 18 points.

Medgar Evers had been on a 15-game losing streak before defeating the Beavers on Friday night. The Cougars have struggled on both ends of the floor, shooting only 34.8 percent (No. 408 out of 409 teams in Division III) from the floor and allow their opponents to connect at a 46.3 percent clip (No. 345 in Division III).

Khalid Yousef is the lone Cougar who averages double figures in scoring, pouring in 18.5 points per game. The junior has reached double figures in all but one game and has one 38-point game under his belt this season.

Medgar Evers also receives production from Valin Williams who leads the country in rebounding, averaging 13.7 rebounds per game to go along with 9.4 points per game.

Loading the Cannon

Last Time Out: Pratt picked up a 65-55 win over RISD on Sunday, snapping a two-game losing streak. The Cannoneers were led by Ari Grant who had game-highs of 19 points and 18 rebounds.

The Cannoneers look to pick up their first conference win of the season after dropping their first two league games to start the season. Pratt carries a 3-2 record at home coming into the matchup with the Bears, but struggle on the offensive end of the floor, averaging 48.0 points per game on 31.4 percent shooting.

Pratt is led by one-time HVIAC Player of the Week and last year's All-Conference Team selection Ari Grant who averages a team-high 18.1 points per game (T-No.3 in the HVIAC) and 11.1 rebounds per game (No. 2 in HVIAC). The forward has three double-doubles on the year and shoots a team-best 37.1 percent from the floor.

Did You Know?

Megafu's eight-game double-double streak is tied for the third longest in the nation this year.

Team Comparison

Bears	Nickname	Cougars	Cannoneers
9-8 (2-0)	Record	2-16 (1-9)	4-6 (0-2)
HVIAC	Conference	CUNYAC	HVIAC
Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Team Info	Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Roster | Schedule | Statistics
David Louison (18.1)	Top Pts.	Khalid Yousef (18.5)	Ari Grant (18.1)
Michael Megafu (10.7)	Top Reb.	Valin Williams (13.7)	Ari Grant (11.1)
Vernon Maddox (4.4)	Top Ast.	Edgar Benedith (1.5)	Ari Grant (1.9)
70.8 (+3.8)	Scoring	63.5 (-22.6)	48.0 (-10.4)
41.4%	FG %	34.8%	31.4%
61.3%	FT %	63.6%	57.9%
26.2%	3FG %	25.3%	12.2%
39.5 (-2.6)	Rebounds	41.9 (-3.5)	37.6 (-2.4)
13.8	Assists	9.8	6.6
14.6 (+4.0)	Turnovers	21.4 (-6.7)	22.4 (-3.8)
8.9	Steals	6.3	9.1
3.7	Blocks	3.2	3.8