Twelve Different Bears Score as Yeshiva Downs Men's Basketball to Clinch Tournament Berth

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Freshman Matt McQuillen (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) scored a career-high 14 points and sophomore Sean Salomons (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) added a season-high 10 points but St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team dropped an 81-69 decision at home to Yeshiva University on Sunday afternoon.

The Basics

• Final Score: Yeshiva 81, St. Joseph's 69
• Records: Yeshiva (13-8, 9-4), St. Joseph's (4-19, 1-13)
• Location: Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Arena: The Hill Center
• SJC Starters: Willis (G), Giles (G), McQuillen (G), Idyahia (G), Meiner (F) 

Turning Point

• A 20-10 run to close the first period built a 47-28 lead at the intermission and St. Joseph's was unable to cut into the deficit.

How it Happened

• Matt McQuillen scored four straight points from the charity stripe to keep the Bears within one, 7-6, early in the first. A 14-4 spurt from the Maccabees brought the first double-digit separation in the game for either team just past the midway point in the period and with the Bears trying to reel back the visitors, Yeshiva pushed their lead 47-28 at the break.
• St. Joseph's used an 8-0 outburst in the second capped by an Alec Willis three-point play to shrink a 20-point deficit to 12, but Yeshiva responded with back-to-back three-pointers from Simcha Halpert to regain momentum and the Bears would never get any closer than 15.

For the Bears

• Freshman Matt McQuillen shot 3-of-7 from three-point land and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe to finish with a career-high 14 points.
• Sophomore Sean Salomons finished one shy of his career-best with 10 points on 4-of-7 shooting in a reserve role.
• Sophomore Joseph Idyahia added seven points and Dimitri Sirakis and Alec Willis chipped in six points each, Willis handed out four assists.

Inside the Box Score

• Twelve different Bears contributed at least three points to the SJC ledger.
• St. Joseph's outscored the visitors 41-34 in the second stanza.
• The Maccabees shot 48 percent (28-59) in victory and held a 45-32 edge in the rebounding battle and outscored the Bears 30-16 in the paint.
• St. Joseph's forced 50 percent more turnovers (18-12) and held a 20-5 in points off turnovers.
• Simcha Halpert scored 26 points and drained four three-pointers to lead four in double figures for Yeshiva.

The Bear Facts

• St. Joseph's is currently on a 10-game losing streak, the longest skid of Coach Cocozello's tenure.
• Yeshiva sweeps the season series and levels the all-time series at 2-2.
• With the win, the Maccabees clinch a berth in the Skyline Conference Championships.

Next up for St. Joseph's

The Bears will face sibling rivals SJC Long Island in Patchogue in their penultimate game of the regular season on Tuesday, February 14th. The Valentine's Day showdown will tip-off at 8 p.m. with live stats and video available on SJCBears.com.