Two Etheart Double-Doubles Give Men’s Basketball Victory Against SJC Long Island

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team defeated sibling school SJC Long Island 81-73 on Saturday to complete the season sweep over the Golden Eagles. SJC was led by 24 points and 14 rebounds from Stephane Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep), along with brother Sebastien Etheart's 14 with 10 boards. The Bears pushed their league record above even to 5-4 with the victory.

The Basics

• Final Score: SJC Brooklyn 81, SJC Long Island 73
• Records: SJC Brooklyn (6-8, 5-4), SJC Long Island (2-8, 2-4)
• Location: Brooklyn, N.Y. — The Hill Center
• SJC Starters: Sirakis (G), McQuillen (G), Etheart (F), Etheart (F), Meiner (F)

Turning Point

• The Golden Eagles cut their deficit to five with five minutes to play in regulation on a pair of Trey Kinard free throws, but Brooklyn outscored the visitors 10-4 for the remainder of the game to hold on.

How It Happened

• Long Island turned things around quickly after being down by 14 early, as Isaiah Moore's finish at 12:04 in the first narrowed the score to 16-12. The Bears would then jump out to a 7-0 run in just two minutes completed by a two-for-two trip to the line from St. Etheart.
• Kinard was perfect on his first trip to the line as well, hitting both to bring his squad within four (29-25) five minutes before intermission. The score would remain close sitting 37-32 at halftime in favor of the Bears.
• Sophomore Dimitri Sirakis (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) scored two of his 18 on the game halfway through the second half to give SJC a convincing 13-point lead.
• Sirakis then iced the game with a freebie in the final second, sealing Brooklyn's first-ever season sweep of their rivals.

For the Bears

• St. Etheart (24), Sirakis (18, Se. Etheart (14), and Matt McQuillen (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) (11) made four Bears' starters in double-figures.
• Junior Joseph Idyahia (Queens, N.Y./Christ the King) scored seven of SJCBK's nine bench points on 50% shooting (2-4) from deep.

Inside the Box Score

• The Bears (47.4%) vastly outshot the Golden Eagles (33.3%) from behind the arc.
• Brooklyn never allowed their opponents to lead and their largest advantage of the game was 14.

The Bear Facts

• Both Stephane (24) and Sebastien (14) Etheart dropped career-highs in points and Sebastien's double-double was the first of his career.
• Stephane set a school record with 23 FT attempts, while he knocked down 14 of them.

Next Up for the Bears

• An away matchup with Sarah Lawrence College (SJC won 75-60 on Dec. 7) on Wednesday (Jan. 10) at 8 p.m. Live stats and video at SJCBears.com.