Five Players in Double-Figures Leads Men’s Basketball to Thrilling Overtime Victory Over Mount Saint Mary

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — In their second-straight overtime contest, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team (1-5, 1-3 Skyline) outlasted Mount Saint Mary College (3-1, 1-1 Skyline), 98-94, at The Hill Center on Saturday evening.

Junior Sebastien Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) put up 19 points, 16 rebounds, and seven assists while classmate Dimitri Sirakis (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) dropped 25 points with five dimes as the Bears secured their first win of 2018-19.

How It Happened
The Bears were in control early on as Tyler Holness (Boston, Mass./Malden) buried a pair of freebies to give them a 10-point lead (16-6) at 12:30 in the first. A Kendall Francis jumper with seven minutes to go sparked an 11-2 spurt for MSMC that brought them within one (24-23) at 2:55.

Ethan Fox went on to finish a last-second layup off of a feed from Francis that gave the Knights a 33-31 advantage at intermission.

The second half was neck-and-neck with neither side gaining a definitive edge until Jameson Morton and Francis nailed back-to-back triples for a 66-57 lead with 7:41 left in regulation.

Sirakis drained a three-ball three minutes later to keep the Bears in it bringing them within four (74-70). Then, with 3:14 to go, Sirakis hit another long-range bomb plus a foul, completing a four-point play to tie the score at 74.

A Sirakis floater with 24 seconds on the clock gave the Bears an 82-81 lead, but a foul on the next visitor possession and two made free-throws from Francis, put them ahead 83-82 with nine seconds remaining. However, Sebastien Etheart drove strong and drew a blocking foul, hitting one-of-two at the line to force overtime.

The Bears won overtime 15-11 behind six points in the frame from Sirakis to give Mount Saint Mary their first defeat in league play this season.

For the Bears

• Etheart added three steals and three blocks to his 19 points, 16 rebounds, and seven dimes as he put up his second-straight double-double.
• Sirakis' 25 points were a season high and he did so on very efficient shooting (6-10 FG, 4-5 3FG, 9-9 FT).
• Frank Reali (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan Wagner) tallied 16 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
• Matt McQuillen (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) and Stephane Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) both dropped 12 points as every SJC starter finished with 10+ points.
• Freshman Richie Simon (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) notched career highs in both points (eight) and rebounds (seven) in 22 minutes off the bench.

Next Up for the Bears
Another Skyline battle at home versus Maritime on Tuesday (Dec. 4) with tip-off set for 7 p.m. Live stats and video will be streaming at SJCBears.com.