Bears Struck Down by Lightning

BRONX, NY – After nearly erasing a 17 point halftime deficit to give Division I NJIT a scare, the St. Joseph's College men's basketball team was unable to repeat the same feat as Lehman College ran away with an 82-50 win over the Bears on Wednesday night at The APEX.

First half shooting woes have plagued the Bears all season and tonight would be no different as St. Joseph's shot a paltry 24 percent in the opening stanza. Lehman broke away with a 15-2 run to build a 14 point lead and later closed the half on an 11-0 run to take a 19 point advantage, 39-20, into the intermission.

Lehman looked for revenge after suffering a 31 point loss to New Jersey City two days earlier and made sure there were no second-half heroics. The Lightning opened the period on a 13-2 run to push the lead to 30 and held steady until the final buzzer.

St. Joseph's (2-6, 1-0 HVMAC) was led by sophomore Jan Rogowski (Woodside, NY/St. John's Prep) and Donald Coleman (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth) who scored nine points each. Freshman David Ortiz (Brooklyn, NY/Christ the King) added eight points and dished out a game-high trying five assists. Coleman and junior big man Dhiraj Bhakta (Glendale, NY/Bishop Loughlin) grabbed seven rebounds apiece, sharing team-high honors.

Lehman (4-4, 2-0 CUNYAC) was led by Samuel Batista who tallied 17 points and Quaseem Weems contributed 15 points. Jonathan DeJesus pulled down a game-high 11 boards.

The Bears return to the hardwood on Saturday, December 11th travelling to Patchogue, NY to square off against sister campus St. Joseph's-Long Island in the renewed annual rivalry now in its third year. The men will tip off at 8 p.m. at the Danzi Center as the marquee matchup following women's swimming and women's basketball.