NYU-Poly Stuns Bears With Come-From-Behind Victory

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – NYU-Poly outscored St. Joseph's 11-3 over the final three-and-a-half minutes sinking their final 11 free throws to complete a 71-63 come-from-behind victory in a non-conference men's basketball matchup on Thursday night at the Jacobs Gymnasium.

The Bears (9-7) led for nearly the first 38 minutes and held an eight-point advantage at the intermission before dropping the fourth of their last five games. The Blue Jays (3-8) snapped a four-game skid and gave Nolan Adams '04 his first victory over his alma mater as a head coach.

St. Joseph's was led by sophomore Michael Megafu's (Brooklyn, NY/Nazareth Regional) 10th double-double of the season with team highs of 15 points and 13 rebounds. Sophomore Vernon Maddox (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's) added 13 points, junior David Ortiz (Brooklyn, NY/Christ the King) chipped in nine points and sophomore David Louison (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmund Prep) pulled down 10 rebounds to go with six points and a team-high five assists.

NYU-Poly received a game-high 16 points and 13 rebounds from sophomore Jethro Auguste coming off the bench. Sophomore Thomas Fabian netted 13 points including 8-of-8 from the charity stripe where the Blue Jays connected at 83 percent rate (24-of-29). Sophomore Stefan Stoyanovich contributed 11 points rounding out three in double figures.

The Blue Jays would score off the opening tip for their only lead of the contest until the final minutes. A trifecta from Ortiz followed by a Megafu slam and Matt O'Neill (Brooklyn, NY/St. Edmund Prep) put the Bears on top 7-2, one minute in. The Bears attempted to pull away, but couldn't extend to double digits, and the Blue Jays whittled the deficit to one on two occasions in the half.

With the Bears holding on to a 23-22 lead with six minutes before the break, a 9-1 spurt helped St. Joseph's open a 10-point lead before carrying a 38-30 advantage at halftime.

St. Joseph's led by as many as 11 and the lead hovered around 8 for most of the early parts of the second stanza.  The Bears led 56-48 with 9:19 to play before the Blue Jays scored the next seven points unanswered in a minute-and-a-half amidst a 10-2 run that brought about a 58-all tie at the four-minute mark.

The squads traded baskets bringing about another tie at 60-all with 3:25 to play and the game turned into a free-throw shooting contest in the bonus, both teams managing a combined one field goal until the final buzzer.

Louison went 1-for-2 to give the Bears a slim lead and the Blue Jays matched him on the other end, bringing about a 61-all tie, but that would be the last missed free-throw by NYU-Poly.

The Bears failed to convert on a triple on their ensuing possession and a pair of Brendan Gallagher free throws at 1:17 gave the Blue Jays their first lead since the opening seconds.

After the Bears missed a pair at the line, NYU-Poly missed on a trifecta of their own but secured a key offensive rebound and was fouled, sinking two more to expand their lead to four, 65-61, with 39 ticks left. The Bears coughed the ball up and were forced to foul and the Blue Jays pushed the lead to six with another set of free throws.

The Bears couldn't find the shots to fall in the final seconds and each time forced to foul and NYU-Poly responded finishing the second-half shooting 85 percent (17-of-20) from the stripe, while the Bears continued their struggles at the line connecting on 44 percent (7-of-16).

The Blue Jays outscored the Bears 41-25 in the second half, also making the most of a 27-18 advantage on the glass in the frame, including nine on the offensive end that led to a 13-4 edge in second-chance scoring.

St. Joseph's will look to rebound on the road against John Jay College on Saturday, January 19. The non-conference tilt is set for 5 p.m. with live stats available on SJCBears.com.