Reali’s 22 Points Lift Men’s Basketball Over SJC Long Island

PATCHOGUE, N.Y. — Four Bears in double-figures and a career-high-tying 22 points from sophomore transfer Frank Reali (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan Wagner) led the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team (2-8, 2-5 Skyline) over sibling rival SJC Long Island, 67-63, on the road on Saturday. With the victory, the Bears snapped a three-game skid and moved into eighth place in the league standings.

How It Happened
The Bears started strong opening the game on an 11-4 run during the first four and a half minutes of play, but a low-scoring first half saw the Golden Eagles tie things up at 18 on a Mike Harris layup with eight minutes to go in the period.

A Reali and-one with less than three minutes on the clock, followed by five unanswered points from Zach MacDonnell (Howard Beach, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy), gave Brooklyn a 36-28 advantage at the break. The Bears' defense was clicking in the first as they held the hosts to 28.2 percent field-goal shooting and a dismal 9.1 percent mark from deep.

The Golden Eagles hung around early in the second, but a 10-2 SJCBK spurt capped off by a Stephane Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) jumper, gave them a 54-44 lead at 12:03.

Long Island didn't lead for the rest of the game, but they tied it at 63 with 1:28 remaining on two free-throws from Frank Basile. However, Reali buried a trey-ball on the next Brooklyn possession and the Bears held their opponents scoreless during the final minute to secure a hard-fought Skyline victory.

For the Bears

• Reali added four assists, four rebounds, and four steals to his team-high 22 points (8-14 FG, 4-7 3FG, 2-3 FT).
• Steph. Etheart posted a near double-double with 11 points and eight rebounds, while his brother Sebastien Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) contributed 10 points, seven rebounds, and four steals to the win.
• Dimitri Sirakis (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) finished with 10 points and five assists and Kavan Meiner (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan Wagner) put up six points and seven rebounds to round out the Bears' starters.
• MacDonnell notched all eight of Brooklyn's bench points on efficient 3-5 shooting and 2-3 from long-range.

Next Up for the Bears
A break for finals and the holidays followed by their final contest of 2018 on Saturday (Dec. 29) at home against CCNY beginning at 2 p.m. Live stats and video will be streaming at SJCBears.com.