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O'Neill Joins 1,000-Point Club as Men's Basketball Upends Skyline Contenders Old Westbury

O'Neill Joins 1,000-Point Club as Men's Basketball Upends Skyline Contenders Old Westbury

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Senior Matt O'Neill (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) netted his 1,000th career point in dramatic fashion, scoring 22 second-half points to match a career-high 27 and propelled the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team to an 81-63 victory over SUNY College at Old Westbury, one of the top teams in the Skyline Conference, on Wednesday evening.

The Basics

  • Final Score: St Joseph's 81, Old Westbury 63
  • Records:  St. Joseph's (3-2, 2-1 Skyline), Old Westbury (1-4, 1-1 Skyline)
  • Location: Brooklyn, N.Y.
  • Arena: The Hill Center
  • Starters:
    • SJC: Murray (G), O'Neill (G), Willis (G), Archer (F), Megafu (F)
    • OW: Odle (G), Stanley (G), Page (F), Gjonlekaj (F), Victor (F)

Turning Point

  • Trailing by two with six minutes left, SJC unleashed a 16-2 run with O'Neill scoring 11 straight points to reach the 1,000-point milestone and building a double-digit advantage with two minutes remaining.

How it Happened

  • Both teams battled over the first 20 minutes with neither squad able to gain much separation. Mark Gjonlekaj knocked down a jumper to give the Panthers their largest lead of the game at seven, 17-10, just eight minutes into the game, but SJC responded with an 8-0 run and neither team led by more than two until the break with Old Westbury going into the lockers up 28-27.
  • The game saw six more ties and 10 lead changes over the first 14 minutes of the second stanza with neither squad leading by more than four.
  • With Old Westbury up 55-53 approaching six minutes in regulation, an Alec Willis jumper tied the game at 55-all and the next Bears possession he drained a right-wing trifecta that gave the Bears the lead for good.
  • O'Neill then took over, scoring the next 11 Bears points in just over two minutes. His floater down the lane at the 2:35 mark was his career 1,001 point and the lead never fell to single digits after that point.

For the Bears

  • Senior Matt O'Neill led all scorers with 27 points, matching his career high. The senior shot 9-for-21 from the field and grabbed seven rebound and swiped seven steals.
  • Senior Michael Megafu recorded his third double-double of the season with 12 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
  • Junior Justin Manon came off the bench to add 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting.
  • Senior Michael Murray rounded out four in double figures with 10 points, along with pairs of rebounds, assists and steals.
  • Sophomore Alec Willis added eight points and grabbed four boards.
  • Both seniors seeing action for the first time this season, Nolan Parr drained a corner triple and Carlos Mayorga sank a pair from the line to add to the ledger.
  • Rodolph Mesadieu and Dylan Hogan made their first collegiate appearances in the victory.

For the Panthers

  • Mark Gjonlekaj and Jamail Stanley each scored 15 points to lead the Panthers. Stanley scored pulled down seven rebounds with four blocks while Gjonlekaj had six boards and three rejections.
  • Keith Lackerson contributed 14 points and Lylle Ryals added 10 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Inside the Box Score

  • Leading the conference in fewest turnovers and turnover margin, the Bears minimized their miscues to 11 while forcing nearly double that (20) and outscoring the Panthers 20-10 in points off turnovers.
  • St. Joseph's shot 39 percent from the field (25-64) bolstered by 55 percent shooting in the second stanza (16-29) draining six of their nine triples in the half.
  • The visitors managed just 33 percent shooting (21-64) and 21 percent (7-33) from distance.
  • There were 12 ties and 17 lead changes.
  • The Bears built their largest lead of the season (19) just before the final buzzer.

The Bear Facts

  • O'Neill reaches the 1,000-point mark in 89 games and now averages 11.3 per game for his career. He leads the team with 18.8 points per game this season.
  • Megafu recorded his 48th career double-double, most among active Division III players and second across all three divisions.
  • SJC is 2-0 this season and 11-1 all-time at The Hill Center.
  • It was the first meeting all time between the two teams. Both squads will meet on January 12th in Old Westbury for the return trip in the home-and-home series.
  • Old Westbury received one first-place vote and was picked to finish second in the preseason coaches poll. The Bears were predicted to finish eighth.

Next up for St. Joseph's

The Bears hit the road to face former HVIAC rivals Sarah Lawrence College for the first time in Skyline Conference play on Saturday, December 5th. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on SJCBears.com.