Men’s Basketball Stumbles In Citizens Bank Tournament Semifinal

NEW LONDON, CONN. – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team dropped their second in a row 60-54 to Connecticut College on Saturday night in the Citizens Bank Tournament semifinal.

Alec Willis (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) led all scorers with a career-high 18 points on 3-of-8 from beyond the arc. The freshman more than doubled his previous career-high of eight reached just two days prior.

Senior David Louison (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) squeaked out his eighth consecutive double-double with 10 points and 12 rebounds while junior Michael Megafu (Jamaica, N.Y./Nazareth Regional) narrowly missed out on his sixth double-double of the year, finishing with eight points and 10 boards.

Matt O'Neill (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) tormented the opponent with eight thefts, matching a previous career-best set on January 21, 2013 at King's (N.Y.). The junior also added 10 points and a game-high four assists.

Sophomore Richard DiPuma (Seaford, N.Y./Seaford) poured in a season-high six points off the bench thanks to a pair of triples.

Sophomore Zuri Pavlin led the Camels in points (12) and rebounds (12) while first-year players Lee Messier and Isaiah Robinson contributed 10 points apiece.

Connecticut (3-3) controlled the early portion of the first-half, jumping out to a 22-11 lead at the 8:06 mark following a layup from Messier.

Helped by a pair of threes from Willis, the Bears (5-3) finished the half with a 15-4 run to head into the intermission knotted at 26.

The lead changed hands on ten occasions in the second-half. A pair of Louison free-throws with 5:17 remaining brought the Bears to within one, making the score 52-51. Following Louison's trip to the line, the Bears proceeded to go scoreless until the 1:20 mark for a stretch totaling 4:57.

During this span, Connecticut's offense scored just five points but still managed to stretch their lead to 57-51. St. Joseph's would be unable to make up the deficit, putting up just three points in the final 5:17.

The Bears' offense shot an inefficient 26.6 percent (17-64) from the field, connecting on just 5-of-27 from long-range. The Camels (22-48) attempted 16 fewer field goals than their opponent but still managed to convert on a greater number.

The Bears scored 27 of their 54 points off of turnovers, greatly capitalizing on their 23-11 TO advantage. But St. Joseph's struggled to find an offensive rhythm in the half-court, especially in the crunch time minutes.

The Bears will look to snap their first two-game losing streak of the season in a third-place game against Coast Guard tomorrow at 2 p.m. Live stats and audio can be found at SJCBears.com.