Late First-Half Drought Dooms Men’s Basketball in Opener at Clarkson

POTSDAM, N.Y. — Freshman Kavan Meiner (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan E. Wagner) paced the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team in his rookie debut and twelve different Bears contributed to the scoring, but Clarkson held the Bears scoreless over the final 4:25 of the opening half and raced away with a 79-60 win in the opening round of the North Country Invitational on Friday evening.

The Basics

• Final Score: Clarkson 79, St Joseph's 60
• Records: Clarkson (1-1), St. Joseph's (0-1)
• Location: Potsdam, N.Y.
• Arena: Alumni Gymnasium
• SJC Starters: Willis (G), Giles (G), Idyahia (G), Parra (F), Meiner (F)

Turning Point

• Host Clarkson closed the final 4:25 of the opening half on a 13-0 run to enter the lockers up 20, 47-27.

How it Happened

• Earning his first career start, sophomore Joseph Idyahia drained a triple to open the scoring for the Bears and built an early 3-2 lead.
• Later Christian Giles sank a pair from the free throw line to put SJC back on top 7-6 before Clarkson responded with an 8-0 spurt off back-to-back trifectas.
• St. Joseph's chipped away at the deficit before with a Sebastien Etheart layup followed by an Aaron Parra jumper brought the Bears back within one, 18-17, just past the midway point of the first half.
• But another quick 7-0 run from the Golden Knights over two minutes extended their lead again and they put the game out of reach holding the Bears scoreless over the final 4:25 to build a 20-point advantage that the Bears couldn't cut into the second stanza..

For the Bears

• Freshman Kavan Meiner paced St. Joseph's in points (10), rebounds (6) and blocks (2) in his first collegiate start.
• Also making his first start, sophomore Aaron Parra matched his career high with eight points and five boards.
• Freshman Anthony Iglesias had a productive 10 minutes off the bench adding eight points on 2-fo-4 from behind the arc and 2-of-2 from the free throw line.
• Fellow rookie Stephane Etheart chipped in seven in a reserve role with two boards.

Inside the Box Score

• Twelve different Bears contributed to the ledger with 14 seeing action in the opener.
• The hosts shot 56 percent in the opening half on their home floor and finished the contest outshooting the Bears 48 to 36 percent.
• St. Joseph's outscored Clarkson 33-32 in the second half.

The Bear Facts

• The Bears shot a perfect 10-for-10 from the free throw line, the first time the Bears have been perfect from the charity stripe (minimum 10 attempts).

Next up for St. Joseph's

St. Joseph's will meet local SUNY Potsdam in a Bears vs. Bears matchup in the consolation game of the North Country Invitational tomorrow, Saturday, November 19. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. with live stats and video available on SJCBears.com.