Men’s Basketball Splits Season Series with Mount Saint Mary

NEWBURGH, N.Y. — Winners of two of their last three outings, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team (7-12, 6-9 Skyline) took on Mount Saint Mary College (12-7, 9-5 Skyline) on the road on Saturday and fell by a final score of 88-68.

Sophomore guard Frank Reali (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan Wagner) dropped a game-high 22 points as well as seven rebounds to lead the Bears in defeat.

How It Happened
Reali drained a deep-ball five minutes into the game to give the Bears a 12-10 lead early on. The Knights regained the advantage quickly, but two minutes later a Dimitri Sirakis (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) bucket brought SJC within two (16-14).

However, the hosts used eight unanswered points to establish a 10-point lead with 11:40 to go in the first. The Knights ended the half ahead 47-37 as the Skyline's third highest scorer Kendall Francis and Jovin Ramos tallied 11 points apiece in the first 20 minutes of play.

The Bears came within nine points twice in the first five minutes of the second half, but a 6-0 spurt capped by a three-point play from Connor Bacci to give MSMC a 15-point lead that proved to be too much for St. Joseph's to overcome. With the victory, the Knights improved to 9-5 in league play (fourth place) while the Bears sit at seventh just outside of the playoffs.

For the Bears

• Junior big man Kavan Meiner (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan Wagner) tallied 19 points on an efficient 7-of-9 from the floor (3-3 3FG) and nearly missed a double-double with nine caroms (two blocks).
• Reali finished with a game-high 22 points, seven boards, two steals, and an assist.
• Sirakis added seven points and six assists and Sebastien Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) chipped in five points, seven rebounds, and four assists.
• Rookie guard Bryan Medy (Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth) posted 11 points (5-11 FG), three rebounds, an assist, and a steal off the bench.

Next Up for the Bears
Another Skyline matchup, this time at home taking on Purchase on Tuesday (Jan. 29) at 7 p.m. Live stats and video will be streaming at SJCBears.com.