Men's Basketball Gameday: Bears at Culinary

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – St. Joseph's (14-9, 6-0 HVIAC) looks to finish HVIAC play undefeated, travelling to the Culinary Institute of America (5-9, 1-4 HVIAC) for a 1 p.m. tip on Saturday, February 8th.

Game Information

St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) (14-9, 6-0 HVIAC) at
Culinary Institute of America (5-9, 1-4 HVIAC)

Saturday, February 8th • 7:30 p.m.
Student Rec Center • Hyde Park, N.Y. 

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Storylines

• St. Joseph's tries to win its 8th game out of their last ten contests after having their season-high five-game winning streak halted by Staten Island on Thursday.
• The Bears look to finish HVIAC play undefeated for the first time since going 6-0 in league play during the 2009-10 season.
• St. Joseph's with a win would conclude the season with a 5-6 record in true road games.
• With a win the Bears would have 15 wins in back-to-back seasons for the first time since winning 21 games in both the 2005-06 and 2006-07 seasons.
• Culinary looks to snap an eight-game losing streak and improve to 4-5 at home.
• Junior David Louison tries to secure his fifth straight double-double, coming into tonight's action with 13 on the season and ranked No. 6 in the nation.

Series History

The Bears hold a perfect 9-0 mark against the Steels since December 4, 2005.

Last Meeting

Led by six Bears in double figues and a pair of double-doubles from David Louison and Michael Megafu, St. Joseph's captured a 95-51 victory over Culinary on January 12, 2013. The Bears raced out to a 9-0 lead and never trailed in the contest taking a 50-22 lead at the intermission behind 43 percent first-half shooting.

Louison posted 11 points with a game-high 13 rebounds while Megafu scored a game-high 15 points with 10 caroms.

The Bear Facts

Last Time Out: Despite the 13th double-double of the season by David Louison, St. Joseph's was not able to overcome 58.8 percent shooting by the College of Staten Island, falling 95-73 to the Dolphins on Thursday night at Brooklyn Technical High School. Louison finished with a team-high 21 points and game-high 10 rebounds

St. Joseph's concludes HVIAC play against Culinary, having already secured the regular season title for the first time since the 2009-10 season. The Bears try to end the regular season with a pair of wins as they head into next week's HVIAC Tournament looking for their first tourney title since 2010. The Bears look to make a late season push towards a USCAA National Tournament berth, coming in just outside the top eight at No. 11.

This week's AD3I and HVIAC Player of the Week David Louison continues to play at an elite level, averaging 18.4 points per game on 53.8 percent shooting and adds 9.3 boards per game. The junior has notched four straight double-doubles to bring his season total to 13 on the season. Louison has started the month of February on a positive note averaging 22.3 points per game on 59.6 percent shooting and has corralled 11.0 caroms per game in three games.

Adding a double-double threat is Michael Megafu who pours in 16.5 points per game and snares a team-high 10.5 rebounds per game. The sophomore has 14 double-doubles on the season (No. 4 in Division III) and has also saved his best play for the month of February, putting up 18.3 points and 9.0 rebounds to start the pivotal month.

Vernon Maddox has stepped up his play over the last three games, averaging 12.0 points per game and 6.0 assists per game over the stretch. The junior has been the Bears primary ballhandler on the season, dishing out a team-high 4.6 assists and adds 9.8 points per game. Sophomore Matt O'Neill chips in 10.6 points per game and leads the team with 2.7 steals per game (No. 14 in Division III).

Dicing the Opposition

Last Time Out: Culinary suffered a 68-57 defeat to Dutchess Community College on Sunday, Febraury 2nd. The Steels were led by Avery Britton who had a game-high 26 points.

Culinary struggles as a team offensively, averaging only 57.8 points per game on a subpar 33.6 percent field goal percentage. However, the Steels do show some toughness on the defensive side of things, holding opponents to only 35.9 percent shooting while forcing 20.7 turnovers per game.

Leading the Culinary attack is one-time HVIAC Rookie of the Week Ricardo Washington who is the lone Steel to average double figures at 10.3 points per game. The freshman also contributes 1.9 assists per game and 1.6 steals per game.

Wayne McFarlane chips in 8.9 points per game while another freshman Avery Britton adds 6.6 points per game and leads the team in rebounding at 7.3 caroms per game.

Did You Know?

Eight of the nine Bears wins in the last nine meetings have been decided by double figures. The closest Culinary has come was an 85-77 loss on February 15, 2009.

Team Comparison

Bears	Nickname	Steels
14-9 (6-0)	Record	5-9 (1-4)
HVIAC	Conference	HVIAC
Roster | Schedule | Statistics	Team Info	Roster | Schedule | Statistics
David Louison (18.4)	Top Pts.	Ricardo Washington (10.3)
Michael Megafu (10.5)	Top Reb.	Avery Britton (7.3)
Vernon Maddox (4.6)	Top Ast.	Marcus Rivera (2.0)
74.1 (+7.0)	Scoring	57.8 (-9.8)
42.2%	FG %	33.6%
61.4%	FT %	55.5%
25.0%	3FG %	21.1%
40.9 (-2.1)	Rebounds	43.2 (-4.3)
14.9	Assists	11.1
13.9 (+5.2)	Turnovers	21.0 (-0.3)
9.3	Steals	10.4
4.0	Blocks	3.7