When and Where:

December 9, 2023 - Bronxville, NY

Records:

St. Joseph's (L.I.), 4-5, 0-2 Skyline

Sarah Lawrence, 4-7, 1-2 Skyline

Results:

The St. Joseph's University (L.I.) men's basketball team falls to Sarah Lawrence, 68-64, in a Saturday afternoon conference match-up at the Campbell Sports Center.

Top performers:

• Junior Xavier Allen led the Golden Eagles with a team-high 28 points and two blocks, to go along with nine rebounds, one assist, and three steals 

• Junior Alec Tabada finished with a team-high 11 rebounds and four assists while adding 21 points

• Senior Spencer Malloy Contributed 13 points, eight rebounds and one block

• Eamon Kelly guided the Gryphons with a game-high 29 points, posting six rebounds, two assists and one steal

• SLC's Lucas Murray completed the double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds

How it happened:

• The Golden Eagles jumped out to an early lead when, just three minutes into action, Allen converted a layup and a three-pointer to accumulate a six-point lead, forcing a Gryphons timeout

• A Tabada three brought the SJLI lead to eight with just over 11 minutes remaining in the first half, but over the next seven minutes of play, SLC would on a 23-3 run to take a 12-point lead 

• A Kelly jump shot saw Sarah Lawrence build their lead up to 13 in the final minute of the first half, but a Malloy jumper in the final 30 seconds cut the lead to just 11 at half

• The Golden Eagles started the second half strong, scoring 12 unanswered points that was capped off by an Allen three-pointer to take back a one-point lead with 14 minutes remaining in the game

• As St. Joseph's held on to a three points lead, 46-43, Tabada provided a spark for SJLI's offense, scoring eight of the teams nine points apart of a 9-2 run, building a 10-point lead with eight minutes remaining in the game

• Over the next four minutes of play, the Gryphons responded with a 10-0 run when Braden Burman hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 55

• Allen responded on the next possession with a jump shot of his own to take back the lead for St. Joseph's, but another three from Kelly propelled Sarah Lawrence ahead by one

• As both teams hit a pair of free throws each to keep SLC ahead by one, a layup from Andrew Kim and another pair of free throws saw the Gryphons take a 64-59 lead with just 25 seconds left to play

• A layup from Allen followed by a three-pointer kept the Golden Eagles within two points, but SLC's free throws secured the victory in the end

Notes:

• Tabada, Malloy, and Allen accounted for 62 of the team's 64 total points

• St. Joseph's shot 20-59 from the field (33.9%) and 5-19 from beyond the arc (26.3%)

• Sarah Lawrence shot 30.3% from the field and 31% from three-point range

• Both teams collected a total of 45 rebounds

• The Golden Eagles scored 26 points in the paint and 26 fast-break points

• SLC's bench scored 10 points to SJLI's one

The Golden Eagles return to action on Sunday, December 17, when they host Yeshiva for a Skyline Conference matchup at 1:00 pm.