Men’s Basketball Falls to .500 in Skyline Play with Loss at Purchase

PURCHASE, N.Y. — In their first action of 2018, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team traveled to Purchase College for a Skyline Conference showdown on Wednesday. Sophomore scoring leader Dimitri Sirakis (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) paced the Bears with 16 points, but they dropped their league record to 4-4 with a tough 20+ point loss.

The Basics

• Final Score: Purchase 86, St. Joseph's 60
• Records: Purchase (7-2, 4-1), St. Joseph's (5-8, 4-4)
• Location: Purchase, N.Y.
• SJC Starters: Sirakis (G), McQuillen (G), Etheart (F), Etheart (F), Meiner (F)

Turning Point

• Nikeem Deleon hit a three-pointer at 7:28 in the second half to cap a 10-2 Purchase run that essentially put the game away.

How It Happened

• The Bears hung with Purchase for much of the first half as a Sebastien Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) finish brought them within eight (21-13) after 12 minutes of play.
• Purchase led by as much as 14 in the first half, but the Bears were able to climb back and kept the score close at 39-31 heading into the break, largely thanks to eight points from Sirakis.
• SJC refused to let the hosts take complete control for much of the second, as a pair of free throws from junior Aaron Parra (Brooklyn, N.Y./Msngr. McClancy) lowered the deficit back to single digits at 56-47 (11:42).
• PC's 10-2 run gave them a convincing 66-49 advantage that they would never relinquish and they improved to 7-2 on the season behind 41 combined points from Deleon and Deshawn Cann.

For the Bears

• Sirakis dropped a team-high 16 points (4-12, 2-3, 6-6) as well as two helpers.
• Sophomore forward Stephane Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) contributed 11 points (5-12) while adding four boards, a block, and a steal.
• Se. Etheart played an all-around game scoring seven points, grabbing six rebounds, and also putting up two assists and two steals.

Inside the Box Score

• Parra was a bright spot among the reserves scoring 10 of the Bears' 16 bench points on top of five caroms.
• Free throw troubles haunted SJC tonight with them converting just 14 of their 22 attempts.

The Bear Facts

• The Bears have now lost five-straight games to Purchase and sit 5-9 against them all-time.

Next Up for the Bears

• The latter half of a Hill Center doubleheader battling sister-school SJC Long Island on Saturday (Jan. 6) at 4 pm. Live stats and video available at SJCBears.com.