Men’s Basketball Scores Season High in Shootout, But Falls Short to CCNY

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Senior Christian Giles (East Elmhurst, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) and freshman Stephane Etheart (Hollis Hills, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) both put up career-high efforts scoring 23 and 18 points respectively as the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team fell 103-94 to City College of New York at home on Monday night in their non-conference finale.

The Basics

• Final Score: CCNY 103, St. Joseph's 94
• Records: CCNY (13-9), St. Joseph's (4-17)
• Location: Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Arena: The Hill Center
• SJC Starters: Willis (G), Giles (G), McQuillen (G), Parra (F), Meiner (F) 

Turning Point

• With the Bears trying to reel back the Beavers, a pair of three-pointers by Austin Volkens capped an 8-2 run for CCNY that pushed their lead to 10 with 5:25 to play, the largest lead for either team at the time.

How it Happened

• An efficient first half of play saw both teams shoot a combined 60 percent and post 107 points with the Beavers holding a one-point, 54-53 lead at the intermission. There were six ties and eight lead changes over the opening 20 with neither team up by more than five points.
• The second stanza saw the Bears take an early lead after buckets from Kavan Meiner and Aaron Parra as the teams fought to gain some separation. With the Bears trailing 69-68 after a pair of free throws from Tyranny Pace, CCNY scored seven straight to move ahead eight nearing the midway point of the half.
• After a Christian Giles layup and a pair of Stephane Etheart free throws cut the deficit to four, 78-74, Mark Richard's dunk kicked off an 8-2 spurt for the Beavers with a Austin Volkens coming off the bench to drain two dagger trifectas to put the Bears at a double-digit deficit, 86-76, with 5:25 to play and SJC could never get any closer than seven.

For the Bears

• Senior Christian Giles shot 10-of-19 from the field to score 23 points, surpassing his previous career-high by a basket. He also dished out a game-high six dimes for his 12th game with five-or-more assists.
• Stephane Etheart came off the bench to score 18 points—also improving his previous career high by two—and pulled down a game-best 11 boards for his second collegiate double-double.
• Sophomore Aaron Parra added 13 points and six boards, shooting a perfect 5-of-5 from the charity stripe.
• Junior Alec Willis rounded out four in double figures with 10 points—all coming in the first half.
• Dimitri Sirakis and Joseph Idyahia chipped in nine points each, the two guards combining for 4-of-5 from behind the arc.

Inside the Box Score

• St. Joseph's shot a season-best 53 percent (32-of-61) from the field.
• The Bears were efficient from the charity stripe draining 89 percent (23-of-26) while the Beavers hit on just 59 percent (17-of-29).
• CCNY committed just nine turnovers all game and held a 17-11 edge in points off turnovers.
• St. Joseph's won the rebounding battle (35-34) but CCNY was more opportunistic converting 14 offensive rebounds into a 24-6 edge in second-chance scoring.

The Bear Facts

• CCNY wins their first game in the series since 2005, snapping a SJC six-game win streak. The Bears now hold a 6-4 lead in all-time series.
• St. Joseph's wraps up non-conference play with a 3-6 record.

Next up for St. Joseph's

The Bears resumes Skyline Conference action heading to Farmingdale State College on Wednesday, February 8 for a 7 p.m. tip-off. Live stats and video will be available on SJCBears.com.