Written by Julia Ruocchio
When and Where:
November 19, 2024 - Patchogue, NY
Records:
St. Joseph's (L.I.), 0-4
Centenary University, 2-2
Results:
The St. Joseph's University (L.I.) men's basketball team fell to Centenary University, 92-65, in a non-conference match-up at the Danzi Center on Tuesday evening.
Top performers:
- Senior Alec Tabada led the Golden Eagles with 16 points and shot 8-for-12 on free-throws, while adding five rebounds and two steals
- Graduate Student Justin Forest contributed 11 points on 5-for-11 shooting from the field with five rebounds, four assists, and two steals
- Senior Spencer Malloy added 10 points and five rebounds
- Sophomore Kenny Rodriguez led all players with seven assists
- Centenary was fueled by Naire Preston who scored a game-high 25 points on 10-for-13 shooting from the field and 5-for-7 from beyond the arc
- Justin Carbone scored 24 points for the Cyclones on 9-for-12 shooting from the field and 5-for-6 from three-point range
- Jasir Lane grabbed a game-high eight rebounds
How it happened:
- The Golden Eagles built a 9-2 lead in the first two and a half minutes of play, with Tabada scoring six of those points
- Centenary responded by scoring eight of the next 10 points, fueled by three-point baskets for Kenneth Rankin and Preston to cut the lead to 11-10 at the 15:23 mark
- About a minute later, the Cyclones took their first lead of the night on a three-point shot for Preston at the 14:07 mark to put the visitors up 15-14
- St. Joseph's proceeded to take back a 17-15 lead on a layup for senior Thomas Bell, then a three-point play for junior Anthony Todd about five minutes later put the hosts back ahead 22-20 at the 8:40 mark
- The Cyclones followed with an 8-0 run to go back ahead 28-22, with four of those points scored by Carbone
- SJLI tied the game and took a lead shortly after, as a layup for Forest knotted the game at 30 apiece with 4:21 on the clock. Forest struck again with another layup 31 seconds later to put the hosts back on top 32-30, before St. Joseph's extended their lead to five (36-31) on two layups for Malloy
- After the visitors came within one (38-37), Malloy put the Golden Eagles up 40-37 right before the buzzer to finish the half. Malloy scored the final eight points for SJLI in the half
- St. Joseph's scored the first basket of the second half, then Centenary scored six straight points to take a 43-42 lead on a layup for Lane at the 17:19 mark
- Forest responded by scoring five points on two baskets to put SJLI ahead by four (47-43) four minutes into the half, then the Cyclones went on a 12-2 run to take a 55-49 lead at the 12:38 mark. Carbone scored 10 of those 12 points for the visitors
- A three for Preston shortly after put Centenary ahead by 10 (61-51) with 11:22 on the clock, then after a three-point shot for senior Ryan McNeely, the visitors went on a 16-1 run that increased their lead to 22 points (77-55) with 6:14 remaining. 12 of those 16 points were scored by Preston
- The Cyclones continued to add on to their lead in the game's final six minutes and took their largest lead of the night of 28 points, before finishing with a 92-65 victory
Notes:
- St. Joseph's shot 40.4% from the field and 33.3% from three-point territory
- The Cyclones posted a 58.7% shooting percentage overall and 56% from beyond the arc
- Centenary out-scored SJLI 55-25 in the second half
- Centenary held the advantage in rebounds (34-30), assists (25-18), and bench points (49-19)
Next up:
The Golden Eagles host SUNY Brockport on Tuesday, November 26 at 4:30pm for a non-conference match-up at the Danzi Center.
