Men’s Basketball Improves to 8-3, Cruises to 68-52 Victory Over La Verne In California Opener

ORANGE, Calif. – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team won their third consecutive game and improved to 8-3 on Monday afternoon, cruising to a 68-52 victory over La Verne in Orange, California.

Junior Michael Megafu (Jamaica, N.Y./Nazareth Regional) finished with his sixth double-double of the season, posting game-highs in points (21) and rebounds (10). Senior David Louison (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) narrowly missed out on another double-double, securing 13 points and nine boards, with three of them coming on the offensive end.

Jamir Archer (Staten Island, N.Y./CSI/McCown) drained a career-high 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting and 3-for-3 from the line. The junior also added four rebounds.

Matt O'Neill (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep), the fourth Bear to reach double-digit scoring, contributed 11 points, three boards, four assists and a game-high four thefts.

Freshman Alec Willis (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) distributed a game-best five assists and junior Nolan Parr (Red Hook, N.Y./Red Hook Central) drained two key triples off the bench.

Ten different players got on the scoreboard for La Verne (3-4). Senior Brett Stephan led the way with nine points off the bench thanks to a 3-for-3 performance from beyond the arc.

Following an early 8-3 deficit, the Bears regrouped and controlled the action the rest of the way. O'Neill's three put St. Joseph's up 12-8 at the 14:19 mark and capped a 9-0 run. The Bears never relinquished the lead.

Megafu's jumper with 7:10 remaining in the first-half capped an 8-0 run and made the score 28-20, giving St. Joseph's their largest lead thus far.

The Bears closed out the half strong, stretching their lead to double-digits (38-25) going into the intermission.

Parr's three with 11:07 remaining in the second gave St. Joseph's their largest advantage of the game, stretching the lead to 53-30.

La Verne's Karl Reyes sunk a three-pointer with 2:52 left, cutting the deficit to 60-48 and giving the Leopards a glimmer of hope following a strong run. But the Bears applied more defensive pressure down the stretch to deny a comeback effort and secure victory.

St. Joseph's was keyed to victory by their 17-12 turnover advantage, which led to an 18-6 points-off-turnovers differential.

The Bears' defense held La Verne to 32.7 percent shooting on just 17 made-field goals, while St. Joseph's shot an efficient 44.6 percent (25-56).

St. Joseph's will finish off their west coast trip tomorrow night and look to extend their win streak to four, facing undefeated Chapman at 7:30 p.m. (EST). Live stats and video can be found at SJCBears.com.