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Posted: Jan 11, 2017

Men’s Basketball Wins Second Straight, Downing Mount Saint Vincent in Wire-to-Wire Triumph

Joseph Idyahia scored 11 points, shooting 4-for-4 (3 3FGM) over a key 21-3 second-half run that put the game away.
Joseph Idyahia scored 11 points, shooting 4-for-4 (3 3FGM) over a key 21-3 second-half run that put the game away.
Box Score
Game Leaders
St. Joseph's (Bklyn)
Pts: Parra, Aaron - 18
Reb: Parra, Aaron - 19
Ast: Christian Giles - 9
Mount Saint Vincent
Pts: MAESTRE,JOSE - 11
Reb: BARRERA,JASON - 8
Ast: MAESTRE,JOSE - 3
Team Stats
Full stats

RIVERDALE, N.Y. — Led by sophomore Aaron Parra's (Brooklyn, N.Y./Monsignor McClancy) 18-point, 19-rebound double-double, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team notched a key 78-67 Skyline Conference South Division victory over the College of Mount Saint Vincent on Wednesday evening. Senior Christian Giles contributed a near double-double with nine points and a game-high nine assists. 

The Basics

  • Final Score: St. Joseph's 78, Mount Saint Vincent 67
  • Records:  St. Joseph's (4-9, 1-4), Mount Saint Vincent (2-11, 0-5)
  • Location: Riverdale, N.Y.
  • Arena: Peter Jay Sharp Center
  • SJC Starters: Willis (G), Giles (G), Sirakis (G), Parra (F), Meiner (F)

Turning Point

  • Maintaining a five-point edge midway through the second half, the Bears broke the game open with a 21-3 run over 6:14 to build a 23 point lead, their largest of the game. Joseph Idyahia opened the run and powered the spurt with 11 points.  

How it Happened

  • The Bears took a 1-0 lead before the tip on an administrative technical and the St. Joseph's never relinquished the lead. St. Joseph's used a 11-0 run with seven points coming from Alec Willis to move ahead by 13, 20-7, with 12:18 left in the first.
  • The Dolphins would reel back the Bears with a 14-3 spurt to pull within two on a Jose Maestre three-point play, but St. Joseph's closed out the half with four points from Matt McQuillen and a layup from Parra with six ticks before the break to carry a 36-28 lead into the lockers.
  • A Sirakis triple right out of the gate pushed the lead back to double figures but the Dolphins didn't let the Bears pull away and trimmed the Bears lead to four, 44-40, six minutes into the second stanza.
  • Joseph Idyahia later drained a triple to jump start the key 21-3 run that put the game away for the Bears. Over the 6:14 spurt, Idyahia caught fire shooting 4-for-4 to score all 11 of his points and St. Joseph's was up 23, 68-45, when he sank his third trey.
  • The Bears still leading by 21 with two minutes to play, the Dolphins scored the final 10 points of the contest against the reserves to close the final deficit.

For the Bears

  • Sophomore Aaron Parra shot 7-of-13 from the field for a game-high 18 points and smashed his previous career best (11) with 19 rebounds.
  • Joseph Idyahia netted 11 points on 4-of-5 shooting and 3-of-4 from three-point land in just 16 minutes of action off the bench, along with two assists.
  • Junior Alec Willis contributed 10 points, with three assists, two steals and a rebound. 
  • Senior Christian Giles had a near points-assists double-double putting up nines in each category and matched his career-high of six boards.
  • Freshman Kavan Meiner also added nine points along with five rebounds.
  • Freshman Dimitri Sirakis chipped in seven points, dished out a career-high five assists, and grabbed four rebounds. Classmate Stephane Etheart also finished with seven points and four rebounds coming off the bench.

Inside the Box Score

  • St. Joseph's shot above 40 percent for the fifth time this season connecting on 45 percent (29-65) and holding the hosts to 36 percent (25-70).
  • The Bears had 24 assists on 29 made field goals. Giles had more assists (9) than the Dolphins as a team (8).
  • St. Joseph's led in points off turnovers (21-16) and fast break points (25-8).
  • The Bears led for all 40 minutes of the contest with the made technical free throw before the start of the game.
  • Jose Maestre led the Dolphins with 11 points while Jason Barrera added 10 points and eight rebounds.

The Bear Facts

  • After splitting the season series last season, the Bears have now won two straight and close the Dolphins lead in the all-time series to 7-4. It is the first victory in Riverdale in the series.
  • It is the first win streak of the season for St. Joseph's.

Next up for St. Joseph's

After playing all the South Division teams once, the Bears will now square off against the North Division, returning home to The Hill Center to face league newcomer United States Merchant Marine Academy on Saturday, January 14 at 4 p.m. in the second game of a twin bill with the women hosting Sage at 2 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on SJCBears.com.