Men's Basketball Beats Bears 77-64 in Regular Season Finale

Written by Julia Ruocchio

When and Where:

February 18, 2023 - Patchogue, NY

Records:

St. Joseph's (L.I.), 13-11, 10-6 Skyline

St. Joseph's (BK), 5-20, 2-14 Skyline

Results:

The St. Joseph's University (L.I.) men's basketball team finishes the regular season with a 77-64 win over St. Joseph's University (BK) on Senior Day in a conference match-up at the Danzi Center on Saturday afternoon. Seniors Jake Gaudiello and Matthew Hirdt were both honored in a ceremony pre-game.

Top performers:

• All five starters for the Golden Eagles finished with double-digit points
• Junior Spencer Malloy scored a team-high 17 points and collected a game-high 12 rebounds for a double-double to lead St. Joseph's-L.I.
• Matt Hirdt went 6-for-7 from the field and 3-for-4 from three-point range, scoring 15 points with four assists
• Sophomore Alec Tabada added 14 points, five rebounds, and four assists with two steals and two blocks
• Junior Xavier Allen scored 13 points and collected nine boards with three steals and two blocks, while Gaudiello added 11 points with a team-high five assists
• St. Joseph's-BK was powered by a 23-point performance for Jonathan Reno, who went 7-for-13 from beyond the arc with a game-high six assists
• Anderson Beltre scored 12 points for the Bears with a game-high five steals

How it happened:

• The game was tight for the first few minutes of play, then St. Joseph's-L.I. went ahead 9-5 on a three-point play for Malloy at the 16:46 mark
• The Bears came within one (11-10) with 14:28 on the clock, then Gaudiello's three shortly after put the hosts up 14-10
• St. Joseph's-BK took a 15-14 lead on a three for Beltre, then Reno scored a three of his own to extend their lead to 18-14
• The Golden Eagles went back in front 19-18 on a three for Junior Ryan McNeely with 8:34 on the clock
• The Bears proceeded to go back in front by five (24-19), but SJLI responded with a pair of baskets for Tabada and one for Hirdt, which trimmed the deficit to 26-25 with 4:49 remaining
• Hirdt's three-pointer brought the hosts within one (29-28), before Gaudiello's three gave the Golden Eagles a 31-29 advantage with 2:19 remaining.
• With the hosts ahead by three, Reno's three-pointer for SJBK at the buzzer knotted the game at 35 to finish the half
• St. Joseph's-BK scored the first points of the second half, then the Golden Eagles went on a 10-0 run to go ahead 45-37 three minutes into the half. Allen scored five points during the run
• SJLI went ahead by 13 (54-41) at the 14:19 mark with a 7-0 run that began with a Hirdt three
• The Bears came within nine (60-51) of the hosts' lead with an 8-2 run, then the Golden Eagles scored seven straight points to go ahead 67-51 on an Allen layup at the 6:39 mark, which was their largest lead of the game (16 points)
• The Golden Eagles maintained a lead of at least 12 points for the remainder of the game, with Malloy scoring six of the final 10 points for the hosts, as SJLI finished their season with a 77-64 victory

Notes:

• St. Joseph's-L.I. shot 54% from the field and 50% from three-point range
• The Bears were limited to a 32.1% shooting percentage overall and 36.1% from three-point territory
• SJLI scored 42 points in the second half, while limiting SJBK to 29
• St. Joseph's-L.I. out-scored the Bears in the paint 36-12, with Brooklyn holding the advantage in rebounds 43-40
• There were eight lead changes and two ties in the contest

Next up, the Golden Eagles will play a road game for the first round of the Skyline Conference playoffs.