Sarah Lawrence Stops Men’s Basketball Streak at Four

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Despite double-doubles from the Etheart twins, the St. Joseph College (Brooklyn) men's basketball squad dropped a tough 63-58 loss at home to Sarah Lawrence College on Thursday evening in Skyline Conference action at The Hill Center.

The Bears (5-9, 4-6) held a slight halftime advantage and remained within one late, but the Gryphons (8-7, 6-4) pulled away to sweep the season series, holding the Bears to their lowest scoring output of the season.

How it Happened

The Bears jumped out to an early 13-6 lead eight minutes in, scoring eight of those points in the paint. The Gryphons would come right back at SJC, holding them scoreless for four minutes tying the game up at 13-all. The last 8 minutes of the half featured three ties and two lead changes and neither team able to pull away by more than four points.

St. Joseph's closed the period on an 8-2 run highlighted by a Sebastien Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) to Stephane Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) running alley-oop dunk on the break put the Bears on top and carried into the lockers, 30-28.

The second half saw the Bears and the Gryphons play to a stalemate once again with five early lead changes. After a Dimitri Sirakis (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) knotted the game up at 40-all, the Sarah Lawrence went on a 7-1 run capped by an Omar Jamaleddine three-pointer to give the Gryphons their largest lead of the second stanza and they never trailed again.

The Bears hung around within striking distance, but could never reel the visitors back in. With just under three minutes to play, Jamaleddine made the play that would be the turning point in the game, sending back a free-throw-line jumper and finishing a layup on the other end to put the Gryphons back on top by six, 58-52.

SJC would make one final push as Stephane Etheart would score five straight points, cutting the lead to one with just under two minutes left, but down the stretch, two crucial offensive rebounds for the Gryphons from Jamaleddine and Enike Anyia—who finished with a game-high 20 boards—helped seal the game for the visitors.

For the Bears

• Sebastien Etheart recorded his fifth double-double game of the season with a game-high 19 points and 11 rebounds, while Stephane Etheart put up 12 points, 13 rebounds, and three steals for the Bears.
• Dimitri Sirakis dropped 12 points, two caroms, and two assists on the game.
• Bryan Medy added 11 points, four boards, and two steals in a reserve role to round out four in double figures.
• The Bears were without regular starter and second-leading scorer Frank Reali who missed his first game of the season due to an injury sustained in Tuesday's win over SJC Long Island.

Next up for the Bears

The Bears take a one-game road trip to face fourth-place SUNY College at Old Westbury (7-6, 5-3 Skyline) on Saturday (Jan. 12) in a Skyline Conference tilt set for 2 pm. Links to live stats and video available at SJCBears.com