Men’s Basketball Drops ENC Classic Final to Eastern Nazarene

QUINCY, Mass. – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team was downed by Eastern Nazarene 78-71 in the ENC Classic Final on Saturday afternoon in a battle of unbeatens.

St. Joseph's (4-1) was carried by David Louison's (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) 27 points and 18 rebounds; both season- and game-highs and the fifth consecutive double-double for the senior.

Junior Matt O'Neill (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) buried a season-high 22 points and added three rebounds, four assists and three steals while senior Vernon Maddox (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) dished out a team-high six assists.

Eastern Nazarene, now a perfect 4-0, was led by junior Jaylen Owens who scored 26 points and converted on a game-high seven helpers.

The first-half was a back-and-forth affair. The Bears held an early 16-8 lead at the 14:01 mark after Louison converted on a three-point play. By the 8:10 mark, the Lions had regained the lead following Jeremy Wagner's trifecta.

With seconds remaining before intermission, Matt O'Neill converted on a pair of free throws to cap off a 5-0 run, giving St. Joseph's a slight 37-36 lead going into the lockers.

The second-half saw seven lead changes as neither team was able to make a significant separation.

O'Neill's layup with 4:09 remaining gave the Bears a 69-67 advantage. ENC would respond with a 7-0 run in a span of 1:54 to go up 74-69.

Louison's layup ended the run and cut the deficit to 74-71, making it a one-possession contest with 1:18 remaining. But St. Joseph's would be unable to complete another comeback, remaining scoreless the rest of the way.

The Lions controlled the final minutes, outscoring the Bears 11-2 in the final 4:09 helped by a perfect 5-5 from the charity stripe.

St. Joseph's shot 54 percent (27-50) from the field, including 60.9 percent (14-23) in the second-half. ENC was efficient as well, shooting 49.2 percent. The Lions won the turnover battle 17-11 and drained clutch free throws down the stretch to secure victory.

St. Joseph's will have a week off before returning to the action after Thanksgiving to face Southern Virginia on Saturday, November 29. Live stats and video can be found at SJCBears.com with a 2 p.m. tipoff.