Stockton Spoils Men’s Basketball’s Season Opener

GALLOWAY, N.J. — In their first game of the 2019-20 season, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team (0-1) took on Stockton University (1-1) on the first day of the Ospreys' Tip-Off Tournament, falling 91-64 on Friday night despite a double-double from senior forward Stephane Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep).

How It Happened
The opening 10 minutes were low-scoring as a Kavan Meiner (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan Wagner) layup brought the Bears within three (8-5) at the 15:33 mark. However, the hosts went on a 17-3 run over the next six minutes to put them up by 17 with just over nine minutes to go before half.

Stockton maintained a double-digit edge late into the frame but, with SJC trailing by 14, senior captain Dimitri Sirakis (Oakland Gardens, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) buried two triples that trimmed the gap to 10 with 1:32 on the clock. The Ospreys went on to respond with an 8-2 spurt in the final 1:15 of the first claiming 48-32 lead at intermission.

St. Joseph's surrendered 11 unanswered points to open the second that quickly extended the Ospreys' lead to 59-32. The large deficit proved too much as the Bears were never able to claw back, but late second-half minutes allowed freshmen James Mojica (South Ozone Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) and Ben Reeves (Dunedin, New Zealand/Otago Boys') to record their first collegiate points.

For the Bears

• Etheart put up a team-high 18 points (7-12 FG) along with game-highs of 11 rebounds and six steals.
• Sirakis finished with 12 points (4-8 FG, 4-8 3FG) with an assist and a steal.
• Junior Nick Reali (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan Wagner) made the most of his 12 minutes off the bench scoring eight points (2-3 FG, 2-3 3FG, 2-2 FT) with three boards, two assists, and two takeaways.
• Mojica finished with seven points (2-2 3FG) and two caroms in his debut.
• Senior Matt McQuillen (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) dished out a team-high three assists.

Next Up
The consolation game of the Stockton Tip-Off Tournament tomorrow (Nov. 16) at 1 p.m. against Cabrini, who fell to Albright 83-70 on Friday night. Live stats and video links will be available at SJCBears.com/live.