Release courtesy of St. Joseph's Athletics
ALBANY, N.Y. – The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team advanced to the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) Tournament final with an 82-71 victory over Vaughn College in Albany, N.Y. on Saturday.
Forwards David Louison (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) and Michael Megafu (Jamaica, N.Y./Nazareth Regional) set the pace with double-double performances.
Louison netted 12 and grabbed a game-high 14 boards, securing his nineteenth double-double of the season. Megafu picked up where he left off after returning from injury, dropping a team-best 16 points and pulling down 10 caroms for his thirteenth double-double this year.
The Bears have found a close to unbeatable formula, improving to 9-1 when both bigs record double-doubles.
Junior Michael Murray (Glendale, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) rose to the occasion on Saturday, dropping a career-high 15 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the floor and 3-of-5 from downtown, providing St. Joseph's with a valuable spark off the bench.
Senior Vernon Maddox (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peter's) contributed 10 more off the bench while freshman Alec Willis (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Joseph by the Sea) drained three from beyond the arc for nine points in addition to a career-high 11 rebounds.
The Warriors were carried on offense by guard Michael Pena. The sophomore exploded for 40 points on 9-of-16 shooting from three.
Tipoff was followed by 4:26 of scoreless play as both sides failed to kickstart their offenses.
Pena finally broke the scoreless tie with a jumper at the 15:34 mark, while Louison responded with his own jumper 21 seconds later to get the Bears on the board.
But St. Joseph's continued to falter as Vaughn's offense found their range. Freshman Tawanto Snead Jr.'s triple increased the Warriors' advantage to double digits (18-7) with 11:04 remaining in the first.
The Bears countered with a quick 7-0 run as they finally began to find the bottom of the net. Murray's three-pointer with 48 seconds left in the period culminated a 12-4 spurt to close the half, giving St. Joseph's a slight 31-29 lead at the break.
After opening the game 0-7 from the floor, the Bears opened up the second half with renewed vigor, claiming their first double-digit advantage (45-35) four minutes into the new period.
St. Joseph's continued to grind down their opponent and the lead ballooned to a game-high 22 points (76-54) following O'Neill's free throw with just 4:31 remaining.
The Warriors closed the game with a 9-0 run, but the deficit proved too much to overcome.
St. Joseph's lost the turnover battle 18-7, largely due to their sloppy start. But the Bears sharpened their play in the second, giving the ball away just five times and holding Vaughn to 34.1 percent from the field in a dominant half with their championship hopes at stake.
Looking to defend their title, the No. 2 Bears will meet No. 1 Berkeley College tomorrow at 2 p.m. in Albany, N.Y. In their only meeting of the season on February 12, Berkeley edged out St. Joseph's 77-68 at The Hill Center. Live stats for the championship faceoff can be found at SJCBears.com.
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Release courtesy of Vaughn Athletics
ALBANY, N.Y. – Sophomore guard Michael Pena (Dumont, NJ) put on an offensive clinic in the Hudson Valley Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (HVIAC) semi-final game against the Bears of St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn). The winner of the semi-final matchup would meet Berkeley College (NY) in the HVIAC championship game. Pena has had his offensive struggles this year, but is still respected as one of the deadliest shooters in the conference. In a game in which both teams needed their key players to perform, Pena came out firing on all cylinders. He finished the game with a career high 40 points on 52 percent shooting from the field. He also hit a career high nine three pointers in the game, on 56 percent shooting from behind the arc. Pena's semi-final performance will go down as one of the best performances in HVIAC playoff history.
The Warriors took an early eight point first half lead over the bears, setting the pace and tempo for the game. The Bears would erase the eight point deficit to take a 31-29 lead into the halftime break period. Both teams started the second half trading baskets. However, the Warriors would go on a three minute scoring drought that would allow the Bears to create some separation on the score board. The Warriors struggles to finish close range shots around the basket hurt their chances in regaining the lead. The Bears capitalized on the Warriors' empty offensive possessions and would go up by as many as 22 points late in the second half. There was no quit in the Warriors as they battled back to bring the Bears lead underneath 10 points with under two minutes to play in the game. Unfortunately, the Warriors would go on to lose to St. Joseph's College by a final score of 82-71.
Pena's 40 points is the most points scored by a Warriors basketball player in a losing effort. Tawanto Snead Jr. (Detroit, MI) chipped in 10 points and six rebounds in the game. Isiah Reed added seven points and eight rebounds.
The HVIAC semi-final loss ends the Warriors season. They finish the 2014-15 season with a 500 record overall, at 13-13.
