Men’s Basketball Runs Streak to Three WIth Overtime Win Over Purchase

PURCHASE, N.Y. — Rookie newcomer Bryan Medy (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth Regional) recorded a 35-point, 11-rebound double-double in only 28 minutes of action off the bench and scored seven points in overtime, to lead the St Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team (4-8, 3-5) to a 105-98 Skyline Conference triumph over Purchase College (5-6, 3-4) on Saturday afternoon.

Sophomore Frank Reali (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan Wagner) drained six three-pointers to finish with a career-high 28 and junior Sebastien Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) flirted with a triple-double netting 11 points, grabbing as many rebounds and dishing out eight assists.

How It Happened

Riding a two-game winning streak entering their first contest of 2019 and their first conference game in nearly a month, the Bears raced out to a 10-0 lead in under two minutes with Etheart and Dimitri Sirakis (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) opening the scoring with back-to-back triples and Sirakis capping off the run with a fast-break layup off a feed from Etheart.

St. Joseph's maintained their separation for the first 15 minutes and stretched their lead to 11 on multiple occasions. With the navy and gray still leading by nine after a Stephane Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) layup at the five-minute mark, Purchase used a 9-3 spurt to make it a one-possession game and closed the gap to four heading into the lockers, 51-47, and Medy leading all scorers with 13.

Purchase matched the Bears start of the game and scored the first 10 points of the second stanza to take their first lead of the contest and moved ahead by six, 57-51. Medy scored a bucket with a foul to jumpstart a 12-2 spurt that he singlehandedly scored nine points to put SJC back on top. Both squads remained within three points before Purchase ran off seven unanswered to jump ahead 76-60 with six minutes in regulation. But in a game of quick runs, a Reali layup and trifecta sparked a 9-0 burst to regain the lead.

In the final minute of regulation, a Reali layup followed by a pair of Medy free throws gave SJC an 88-85 lead with six seconds left, but Willie Britton was fouled on a game-tying three-point attempt at the buzzer and sank all three freebies to force overtime.

The overtime session would be all SJC as Stephane Etherart scored the first four points of the period and a Reali layup capped a 6-2 run to open the frame. Clinging to a two-point lead entering the final minute, a huge Sirakis trifecta pushed the lead back to five with 47 seconds left and the hosts missed all four of their field goal attempts trying to make a comeback.

The Bears never trailed over the final five minutes shooting 63 percent (5-8) in the frame compared to the hosts just 22 percent (2-9) connect rate.

For the Bears

• Bryan Medy shot a near perfect 10-of-11 from the stripe and 12-of-21 from the field to post game highs of 35 points and 11 rebounds in just 28 minutes in his second collegiate game. The 35 points are the most scored by a rookie in 17 seasons under Coach Joseph Cocozello and is the first 30-point game in Bears history with under 30 minutes playing time.
• Frank Reali posted a career-high 28 points on 9-of-16 shooting and 6-of-9 from behind the arc, also grabbing four rebounds.
• Sebastien Etheart stuffed the box score with 11 points, 11 rebounds, and a career-high-tying eight assists.
• Stephane Etheart chipped in 12 points and seven boards.

Next Up for the Bears

The Bears return to The Hill Center for two straight home games. They look to sweep the season series with sibling rivals SJC Long Island on Tuesday (Jan. 8). Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. with live stats and video available on SJCBears.com.