Written by Julia Ruocchio

When and Where:

January 29, 2025 - Patchogue, NY

Records:

St. Joseph's (L.I.), 6-12, 5-4 Skyline

Mount St. Mary, 2-16, 1-8 Skyline

Results:

The St. Joseph's University (L.I.) men's basketball team picked up a 71-50 win over Mount St. Mary College in a conference match-up at the Danzi Center on Wednesday evening.

Top performers:

• Graduate Student Matt Coletti led the Golden Eagles with an 18-point performance on 6-for-8 shooting from three-point range, while adding four assists which tied the game-high
• Senior Alec Tabada scored 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting from the field while adding three rebounds and three assists
• Senior Spencer Malloy collected a game-high 10 rebounds and scored eight points
• Sophomore Kenny Rodriguez and senior Thomas Bell each tied the game-high with four assists, with Rodriguez contributing nine points and seven rebounds
• Connor Cyran and Ryan Graham each scored 13 points to lead Mount St. Mary. Cyran grabbed a team-high seven rebounds and went 6-for-6 on free throws, while Graham added five rebounds and three steals
• Ben Toussaint contributed nine points, and AJ Piedra collected a game-high four steals

How it happened:

• A tight first four minutes saw the game in a 6-6 tie, before MSMC took a 9-6 lead on a three for Cyran at the 15:51 mark
• The Golden Eagles took a 13-11 lead on a three for Coletti with 12:53 on the clock
• With the game tied at 13, SJLI went on an 8-0 run about half way through the half to take a 21-13 lead, with Rodriguez and Coletti making three-pointers during the run
• The hosts increased their lead to nine (26-17) shortly after on a three-point play for Tabada at the 8:05 mark, which was their largest lead of the half
• Mount St. Mary scored six consecutive points to trim the deficit to three (26-23), with J.P. Egan making a three with 5:02 on the clock
• Senior Ryan McNeely responded with a three-point play to put the hosts back up by six (29-23) with 3:52 on the clock
• The Knights cut the lead to four (31-27) on a jumper for Cyran at the 2:16 mark, before St. Joseph's went into the break with a six-point advantage (33-27)
• The Golden Eagles began the second half by scoring six straight points to extend their lead to 12 (39-27) on Tabada's layup with 17:10 on the clock
• The hosts proceeded to go on a massive 13-2 run that spanned about three minutes to take a commanding 19-point lead (52-33). Rodriguez scored six points during the run and Coletti scored three
• Consecutive three-point baskets for Coletti extended the lead to 24 (62-38) at the 8:32 mark
• The Golden Eagles took their largest lead of the night on another three for Coletti at the 6:50 mark, increasing the lead to 27 (67-40)
• The hosts led by 27 on two more occasions in the final minutes, before they finished the game with a 21-point margin (71-50) for their fifth conference win of the season

Notes:

• St. Joseph's shot 50.8% from the field and 41.2% from three-point range
• The Knights posted a 25.4% shooting percentage overall and 11.4% from beyond the arc
• SJLI held the advantage in rebounds (49-33), assists (23-10), and points in the paint (46-16)
• The Golden Eagles received 43 points from their bench compared to MSMC's 19

Next up:

The Golden Eagles return to action on Saturday, February 1 when they host Purchase College for a conference match-up at the Danzi Center at 2:30 pm.