Sarah Lawrence and Old Westbury Make Up Two-Game Week for Men’s Basketball

BROOKLYN, N.Y. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team is set for two road matchups, starting with Sarah Lawrence College on Wednesday (Jan. 10) then the College at Old Westbury on Saturday (Jan. 13), in their second week of play in 2018. SJC split their two Skyline games last week, placing them at 6-8 overall (5-4 league) and fifth in the standings entering play.

Wednesday, Jan. 10 at 8 p.m.
at Sarah Lawrence

Opponent's Info: Roster | Schedule | Stats

Coverage: Video | Live Stats

Previously

• St. Joseph's began last week with an 86-60 road loss to Purchase State College (Jan. 3), despite three Bears in double-figures led by sophomore guard Dimitri Sirakis' (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) team-high 16 points (4-12, 2-3, 6-6). The Bears bounced back nicely, however, as they hosted sister school SJC Long Island on Saturday (Jan. 6), ending in an 81-73 victory to complete the season sweep of their rivals. Sophomore Stephane Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) led the squad dropping a career-high 24 points while grabbing 14 boards for his sixth double-double of the season. Four Bears surpassed 10 points in the win and Sebastien Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) picked up his first career double-double on a career-high 14 points and 10 rebounds.
• Sarah Lawrence is currently at the bottom of the Skyline with a 2-11 (1-7) record and last week they picked up two double-digit losses, followed by a close loss (80-76) this past Monday (Jan. 8) to Mount St. Mary. On Jan. 2 the Gryphons fell 80-66 to second-place Farmingdale, then suffered an 87-42 exhibition defeat to Columbia (Jan. 6). Junior guard Austin Jones was a bright spot over the three losses, averaging 17 points and notching 20 versus both Farmingdale and Mount St. Mary.

Keys to the Contest

• The Bears have scored the second-most points in the Skyline thus far (955) and are led on offense by Sirakis and his fifth-place 16.1 points per game. On the contrary, SLC sits dead last in the league in scoring average (65.3 ppg) and their offense has been spearheaded by forward B.J. Sanders' team-high 13.4 ppg. The two teams previously faced off on Dec. 7 as St. Joseph's handled business with a 75-60 home victory. St. Etheart had a breakout performance in that win, going off for a 23-point, 17-rebound double-double (5 stl, 2 blk) on efficient 10-17 shooting. Sanders paced his squad with 17 points off the bench, but 21 turnovers sank the Gryphons. Another battle between Etheart and Sanders could very well prove to be the deciding factor in the rematch.

History

• After winning the first 13 head-to-head battles, the Bears fell to SLC last season before their 15-point win over the Gryphons last month.

Saturday, Jan. 13 at 12 p.m.
at Old Westbury

Opponent's Info: Roster | Schedule | Stats

Coverage: Live Stats

Previously

• Old Westbury enters the week one spot behind the Bears in the Skyline standings, sitting at 4-7 (3-3). The Panthers played twice in the last seven days going 1-1 over the course of two Skyline matchups. Most recently, they downed Merchant Marine 79-71 on the road last Saturday (Jan.6). Before that, the Panthers fell to Mount Saint Vincent 93-84 at home on Tuesday (Jan. 2). In the victory over USMMA, Old Westbury was carried by four players in double-figures led by forward Alan McDonald's 16 points and seven caroms. Before hosting the Bears, OW takes on Mount St. Mary on Wednesday (Jan. 10) at 7 p.m.

Keys to the Contest

• Despite coming off the bench in every game thus far, McDonald is averaging a team-high 15.5 points a night which also ranks sixth in the Skyline. Behind McDonald, senior guard Terrin Roland pours in 12.7 ppg as well as a team-high 4.7 assists/game. On the glass SJC sits at fourth in the conference with 38.9 rebounds/game, which bodes well against a Panthers' squad that allows the (tied) most boards a night in the Skyline (42.3). Defensively both sides are fairly even, as OW holds opponents' to 43.3% FG shooting compared to the Bears 43.9% opposing FG%. In what appears to be an evenly matched game, scoring distribution is key and St. Joseph's should look to get all of their scorers involved early and often.

History

• The Bears have lost four-straight to Old Westbury, including the 2015-16 Skyline Championship, with their last victory (81-63) coming earlier that season (Dec. 2, 2015).