Men’s Basketball Drops Season Finale to Old Westbury

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Junior guard Dimitri Sirakis (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) posted his first career double-double, notching 20 points and 10 boards, but the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team (9-16, 7-13 Skyline) fell 72-67 to Old Westbury (15-10, 13-7 Skyline) in their final game of the 2018-19 season at The Hill Center on Saturday afternoon.

How It Happened
The Bears led for the first 9:57 of the contest until Justin Alleyne-Washington finished a layup to tie the score at 16 halfway through the first. However, five-straight points from Zach MacDonnell (Howard Beach, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) capped off a 12-0 SJC run for a 28-16 lead with seven minutes to go before the half.

St. Joseph's went on to lead 37-30 at intermission as Sirakis poured in 11 points in the first 20 minutes of play. The Bears defense was stingy in the first holding the visitors to 33.3 percent shooting while their bench outscored the Panthers' 11-5 leading to the halftime edge.

SJC opened the second with seven unanswered points to take a commanding 44-30 advantage with 18:30 to play. The Panthers clawed back over the next 10 minutes and an Alan McDonald dunk brought them within five (57-52) at 8:39. McDonald then made a layup to give Old Westbury their first lead of the game, 63-62, with just under three minutes left in regulation.

Old Westbury outscored SJC 9-5 over the final 2:42 to secure the victory as they look ahead to hosting a playoff game in the Skyline Championships. Pedro Marquez led the way for the Panthers dropping 27 points lifting them to sweep the season series over SJC.

For the Bears

• Sirakis added two assists and a steal to his team-high 20 points (10 boards) on 50 percent shooting.
• Kavan Meiner (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan Wagner) put up 11 points (4-6 FG) and three blocks as the team's second-leading scorer.
• Frank Reali (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan Wagner) and Stephane Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) contributed 10 points apiece in the loss.
• Sebastien Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) flirted with a triple-double totaling nine points, 11 rebounds, and seven assists (four steals).