Mount Saint Mary Edges Out Two-Point Triumph Over Men’s Basketball

Mount Saint Mary Edges Out Two-Point Triumph Over Men's Basketball

NEWBURGH, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team looked to follow up their upset of first-place Mount Saint Vincent (Jan. 24) at Mount Saint Mary on Saturday, but narrowly lost 68-66. The game was tied with seven seconds left in regulation, but a late SJC foul and perfect Knights' free-throws gave the hosts a close Skyline victory.

The Basics

• Final Score: Mount Saint Mary 68, St. Joseph's 66

• Records: Mount Saint Mary (8-10, 8-5), St. Joseph's (8-11, 7-7)

• Location: Newburgh, N.Y. — Kaplan Center

• SJC Starters: Willis (G), Sirakis (G), Etheart (F), Etheart (F), Meiner (F)

Turning Point

• Five points in 11 seconds from Gerard Nocera (9:44) cut MSMC's seven-point gap to two (49-47) bringing them back into the game.

How It Happened

• Evenly matched play was the story early as a Stephane Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) jumper 10 minutes into the first half knotted the score at 12. The Bears followed with a 9-3 run, but the Knights tied things up again with a three at 6:08 (21-21).

• Five points from sophomore Dimitri Sirakis (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) during a 9-3 Bears' spurt to close the half had St. Joseph's leading 30-26 at the break, as Etheart and Sirakis combined nearly half of their team's points (14).

• Sirakis hit a trifecta five minutes into the second to put SJC up 40-32, but MSMC quickly narrowed the deficit to three on a Kendall Francis finish (13:42). Soon after Sirakis was at it again, nailing a three at 11:40 to bring the Bears' advantage back to seven.

• Nocera then caught fire to once again make things interesting, and his team took a 52-51 lead with eight minutes to play. Eight lead changes occured in the final six minutes, but Nocera tied the score at 66 (0:38) with a long-range bomb, and clutch freebies gave his squad a nail-biting home win.

For the Bears

• Stephane poured in a game-high 21 points (10-14) as well as eight boards.

• Sirakis netted 15 (4 reb, 2 ast), and forward Kavan Meiner (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan Wagner) dropped 10 (9 reb, 3 blk) to round out players in double-figures.

Inside the Box Score

• Both offenses were scoring at a similar pace, as SJC shot 38.5% FG and 28% 3FG, compared to the Knights' 36.9% and 27.6% marks.

• The Bears significantly outrebounded Mount Saint Mary 53-35.

The Bear Facts

• MSMC blew out St. Joseph's 83-51 at The Hill Center earlier in the season (Dec.2)

Next Up for the Bears

• The latter half of a Hill Center doubleheader hosting Purchase at 7 pm on Tuesday (Jan. 30). Live stats and video available at SJCBears.com.