Recap courtesy of St. Joseph's College Athletics

BROOKLYN, N.Y. – In a game that needed little hype between two long-time rivals playing for the first time at the Barclays Center, the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team grabbed a 75-57 victory over Berkeley College in a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) matchup on Friday afternoon.

The Bears (6-5, 2-0 HVIAC) moved above the .500 mark for the first time this season and extended to a season-long three game win streak behind David Louison's(Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) season- and game-high 29 points. Michael Megafu(Brooklyn, N.Y./Nazareth) recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 18 points and grabbing a game-best 10 caroms to help the Bears secure their first win over the Knights (5-5, 1-1 HVIAC) in seven meetings.

Berkeley was paced by Jovan Bovell's 19 points and four rebounds, the Bears defense not allowing any other Knight to reach double figures.

Unlike the previous meetings in the series that have come down to the wire – seven of the last eight meetings decided single digits – St. Joseph's never trailed in the contest and led by as many as 16 behind Louison's 18 first-half points that nearly paced the Knights who trailed 38-24 at the break.

While Berkeley managed to trim the deficit to single digits momentarily in the second half, St. Joseph's remained firmly in control of the contest building as large as a 22-point cushion and the entire team finding some minutes on the home floor of the Nets.

TURNING POINT

The game remained a tight affair knotted at 15-all seven minutes in but St. Joseph's expanded a 19-17 lead with an 8-0 run over a span of four minutes sparked by a pair of baskets by Vernon Maddox (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) and capped by a layup-with-a-foul from Louison that gave the Bears a double-digit lead where it remained firmly for the remainder of the contest.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Other key contributors: Vernon Maddox (9 pts, 6 ast, 3 stl), Greg Beehler (6 pts, 8 reb), Matt O'Neill (4 pts, 6 ast)
• The Bears dominated inside and held a 48-20 edge in scoring inside the paint. St. Joseph's converted 14 rebounds in the offensive end into 23 second-chance points.
• The Bears also took advantage of 22 Berkeley turnovers holding a 22-13 edge in points off turnovers.

THE BEAR FACTS

• St. Joseph's improves to 14-9 in the all-time series vs. Berkeley and 13-3 in regular season meetings. The two squads have squared off in seven of the last eight Hudson Valley title games.
• The 18-point victory was the largest for the Bears since a 20-point win in the 2008 HVMAC Championship.
• The winner of the regular season matchup between the Bears and the Knights has gone on to win the Hudson Valley regular season title in each year since 2005.
• Louison's 29 points fell two shy of his career best (31 at Lehman on 12/30/2011) and now sits at 906 points for his career (13.5 career ppg)
• Beehler grabbed a career-best eight rebounds and was one point shy of his career high in 16 minutes of action.
• David Lugo (Brooklyn, N.Y./Bishop Ford) picked a good venue to score his first career points with a jumper in the final minute of play

NEXT UP FOR THE BEARS

St. Joseph's will look to wrap up 2013 on a four-game win streak facing CCNY on the road on Monday, December 30th at 5 p.m.

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Release courtesy of Berkeley College Athletics

The Berkeley College of New York men's basketball team dropped a Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest on Friday afternoon, falling to the Bears of St. Joseph's College of Brooklyn by a score of 75-57 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, NY. With the loss, the Knights dropped to a mark of 5-5 overall, including a 1-1 record in HVIAC play, while the Bears improved their record to 6-5 on the 2013-2014 campaign, while staying unblemished in the conference with a mark of 2-0.

Berkeley College's Jovan Bovell led the way for the Knights, as he scored a team-high 19 points while connecting on six of his 10 attempts from the floor and nailing all five of his free throws. The senior guard also collected four rebounds, tallied two steals and dished a pair of assists. At halftime, Berkeley Head Coach Christ Christiansen presented the Jamaica, NY product with a commemorative 1,000 point ball, honoring the standout for reaching the century mark in points for his career.

In addition to Bovell's contributions, center Elijah Craig contributed six points to go along with eight rebounds while swatting three shots.

St. Joseph's College of Brooklyn was paced David Louison who put forth a phenomenal effort, as scored a game-high 29 points on 14-of-22 shooting and grabbing five rebounds. Michael Megafu recorded a double-double for the Bears, netting 18 points, snatching 10 rebounds and dishing five assists. Vernon Maddux had a fine all-around game with nine points to go along with six assists and three steals.

The Knights had defeated the Bears six straight times coming into today's contest, but St. Joseph's College made sure that streak didn't reach seven as they never trailed in the contest and led by as many as 16 points points in the first half. As the teams went into the locker room at halftime, St. Joe's held a 38-24 lead.

Berkeley began the second half on a 12-7 run to cut what was once an 16 point deficit to nine, but the Bears remained in control, eventually building their advantage to 22 points before comfortably putting the Knights away.

The Knights will return to action on Sunday afternoon, as Berkeley will battle Endicott College on the first day of the Salem State Holiday Classic in Salem, MA. Game-time for that contest is 2:00pm.