Men’s Basketball Cruises to Third-Place Win Over Coast Guard

NEW LONDON, CONN. – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team rebounded from yesterday's setback to take the Connecticut College/Coast Guard Invitational third-place matchup in comfortable fashion, beating Coast Guard Academy, 70-50, on Sunday afternoon.

Michael Megafu (Jamaica, N.Y./Nazareth Regional) recorded game-highs in points (24) and rebounds (8). The junior finished a remarkable 10-of-12 from the field and also added three assists and three steals.

Junior Matt O'Neill (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) reached the 20-point plateau for the third time this season, scoring 20 on 7-of-12 shooting and a perfect 4-of-4 from three. O'Neill also reached a career-high in assists (8) and a game-high in steals (5), totaling 12 assists and 13 thefts in the guard's last two games. For his efforts, O'Neill was named to the All-Tournament team.

David Louison's (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) double-double streak was snapped at eight games but the senior still managed six points, seven rebounds and four assists.

Nine different players recorded points for Coast Guard (4-4). Junior Kevin Alvarez led the way with team-highs in points (11) and rebounds (6).

The Bears (6-3) dominated the first-half and a quick 8-0 run had them up 10-2 in the early going. Vernon Maddox's (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) layup at the 7:32 mark capped a 9-0 run minutes later, putting the Bears up 24-6.

Coast Guard would be unable to chip away at the lead as St. Joseph's more than doubled up their opponent in the first-half, entering the intermission up 34-16.

The majority of the second-half told the same story. Megafu's converted layup with 5:15 remaining put the Bears up 70-38, their largest lead of the day.

Coast Guard finished the game on a 12-0 run but the deficit was too massive to overcome as the Bears snapped their two-game skid in dominant fashion.

St. Joseph's displayed a hot-hand from three, hitting 53.8 percent (7-13) from beyond the arc, a major improvement over yesterday's 5-of-27 effort. The Bears also shot an efficient 52.7 percent (29-55) from the field while holding Coast Guard to just 38.8 percent (19-49).

Despite losing the turnover battle 16-9, St. Joseph's made the most of their opponent's mistakes and held a massive advantage in points off turnovers (18-2).

Following three consecutive games away from home, St. Joseph's will be able to rest up for their Hill Center debut on Thursday, December 18 at 7:30 p.m. The Bears will be hosting rival St. Joseph's (L.I.) in the annual East vs. West matchup. Live stats and video can be found at SJCBears.com.