Second-Half Comeback Falls Short as Men’s Basketball Drops Heartbreaker to New Paltz

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Despite trailing by as many as 24 to SUNY New Paltz, Chris Tracy's (Glendale, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) 14-point game sparked a second-half surge for the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team. However, the Bears (0-9, 0-3 Skyline) dropped their non-conference result to the Hawks (4-3, 2-1 SUNYAC), 80-75 on Wednesday night in their final game at The Hill Center before the new year.

Tracy's 14 points set a new career-high while Chris Mikos (Freehold, N.J./St. John Vianney) once again flirted with a triple-double; scoring a game-high 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting with nine rebounds, seven assists, and three steals.

How it Happened

The Hawks drained three of their first four three-pointers to begin the game, leading 13-4. Layups from Mikos and Richie Simon (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) brought the Hawks' lead down to five before the visitors held a double-digit advantage with just over 11 minutes remaining, 24-13. New Paltz used a 15-2 run in the final 3:51 of the frame to pull away from the Bears, going into the half up 51-31.

After the Hawks took their largest lead of the game, 57-33, a trey from Tracy started a 10-0 run for the navy and gray to trim their deficit. Hitting all three of his foul shots and a corner three at the 10:55 mark, Tracy cut the New Paltz advantage to 10, 66-56. The guests held a temporary double-digit lead before triples by Tracy and Evan Sirakis (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) and a put-back bucket by Samil Melo (Brooklyn, N.Y./Adams Street) made it 69-65 with 6:36 to go.

Continuing to eat at their deficit, Mikos drained his lone trey of the contest with 1:48 to close the gap to two points, 76-74. It was the closest the Bears were to the Hawks since the 18:40 point of the first half. The Hawks hit a mid-range jumper and a pair of free throws in the final minute to cap off their five-point win.

For the Bears

• Mikos registered his fourth 25-plus-point game of the season. The senior added a pair of blocks to his stat line.

• All of Tracy's 14 points came in the second half, shooting 4-of-8 from the floor and 3-of-6 from three-point land in the period.

• Sirakis' 17 points were a season-high, going 3-of-5 from distance, to go with five assists and a pair of caroms.

• Simon logged 13 rebounds, two assists, as many steals, and three points.

• Joe Sheehan (Staten Island, N.Y./Gaynor McCown) finished with eight points and four assists.

• Melo had six points and six rebounds on the night.

• SJC outrebounding the Hawks, 40-37, while having a better shooting percentage from distance (41-31) and from the charity stripe (70-50) than their SUNYAC opposition.

Up Next

The Bears will take on the host Cardinals, as part of the York College (N.Y.) Invitational, on Friday, December 10 at 7 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on SJCBears.com/live.