Mikos Goes for 28 as Eastern Connecticut State Deals Men’s Basketball Season-Opening Loss

WILLIMANTIC, CONN. — In a game of scoring runs, senior Chris Mikos (Freehold, N.J./St. John Vianney) erupted for a career-high 28 points on 13-20 from the field for the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team in their season opener at Eastern Connecticut State University. However, the Warriors (1-1) came away with the 68-58 victory over the Bears (0-1) in the opening game of the ECSU Tip-Off Tournament on Friday evening.

How it Happened

The Warriors surged to a 17-4 lead behind the three-ball, shooting 3-6 from distance in the opening eight minutes. A string of missed threes by the hosts and Emmanuel Coffy (Marlboro, N.J./Marlboro) netting five of the next seven points saw the Bears' deficit reduced to six. SJC continued to eat at the host's lead with Mikos dropping 10 in the period but Eastern Connecticut went into the half up 32-21.

The Bears came out of the locker room going on a 9-3 run to trim the Warriors' lead down to 35-30. ECSU then descended on a 16-3 run of their own to take an 18-point advantage, 51-33, their largest lead of the game. At the 11:58 mark, Richie Simon (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) drew a foul from beyond the arc and drained all three of his free throws to swing the momentum back in the navy and gray's favor. Their 15-0 run was capped off by an acrobatic layup by Samil Melo (Brooklyn, N.Y./Adams Street) to make it a one-possession game with 5:53 remaining, 51-48. It was the closest the Bears got to the Warriors as the hosts distanced themselves late in the contest to secure their first win of the season.

For the Bears

• Mikos' 28 points led all scorers. His 10 rebounds were good for his second double-double in a Bears uniform.

• Coffy also went for double-figures, scoring 10 to go with his four boards.

• Simon and James Mojica (South Ozone Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) combined to go a perfect 5-5 from the free-throw line as the Bears shot 58.3% (7-of-12) from the charity stripe.

• Simon led the team in steals (3) while Melo's eight rebounds placed him second.

Up Next

Mitchell College, who fell to Trinity College in the second semifinal, will take on the Bears in the consolation game of the ECSU Tournament on Saturday, November 13 at 1 p.m. Live stats and video will be available on sjcbears.com/live.