Strong Second Half Sends Mount Saint Mary Past Men's Basketball

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team took an early lead but couldn't hold off a surging Mount Saint Mary College squad who used a strong second half to hand the Bears a 75-54 loss at home in Skyline Conference action on Wednesday.

The Basics

• Final Score: Mount Saint Mary 75, St. Joseph's 54
• Records: Mount Saint Mary (10-6, 5-3), St. Joseph's (4-13, 1-8), 
• Location: Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Arena: The Hill Center
• SJC Starters: Willis (G), Giles (G), Sirakis (G), Parra (F), Meiner (F) 

Turning Point

• A five-minute scoring drought for the Bears allowed the Knights to balloon a seven-point lead to 18 with 11:19 to play and they never could cut into the deficit.

How it Happened

• Eight early points from Alec Willis gave the Bears a 9-5 advantage. Later in the period, Timmy Driscoll came off the bench to score five quick points to spark a 7-0 Bears run, building a 19-12 lead nearing the midway point of the half.
• Anthony Iglesias later scored five straight for the Bears with his triple at 7:22 giving them their largest lead of the ball game, 24-16, but the visitors responded with 11 straight capped by Gerard Nocera's steal and dunk and the Knights took a 33-29 lead into the lockers.
• Dimitri Sirakis' trifecta early in the second brought the Bears back within one possession, but St. Joseph's managed just two more field goals over the next 10 minutes and they quickly found themselves behind by 18, 53-35, with 11 minutes left.
• St. Joseph's shot just 28 percent (8-of-29) in the second stanza while Mount Saint Mary connected on 52 percent (17-33) to thwart any hopes of a comeback.

For the Bears

• Junior Alec Willis led the Bears with eight points and two assists.
• Freshmen Kavan Meiner, Dimitri Sirakis and Tryanny Pace added six points each. Pace hit a pair of triples and shot 2-for-4 from behind the arc in seven minutes of action off the bench for his first collegiate points.
• Senior Christian Giles added four points and handed out a game-high six assists—his sixth straight game with five-or-more helpers.
• Freshman Sebastien Etheart rejected a career- and game-high three shots and also dished out a career-best three assists.

Inside the Box Score

• Eleven different Bears contributed to the ledger with 14 different Bears seeing action.
• The Knights were efficient connecting on half their shots in the contest (30-60).
• The game saw a combined 25 free throws and lasted just 1:28.

The Bear Facts

• Mount Saint Mary improves to 4-1 in the all-time series.
• The Bears drop their fourth straight, their longest skid of the season.

Next up for St. Joseph's

The Bears hit the road for two games returning to the hardwood against Maritime College on Saturday, January 28. Tip-off is slated for 1 p.m. with live stats and video on SJCBears.com.