Written by Julia Ruocchio

When and Where:

February 1, 2025 - Patchogue, NY

Records:

St. Joseph's (L.I.), 7-12, 6-4 Skyline; Purchase College, 9-10, 5-5 Skyline

Results:

The St. Joseph's University (L.I.) men's basketball team defeated Purchase College, 68-67, in an exciting match-up at the Danzi Center on Saturday afternoon. Four Golden Eagles finished with double-digit points.

Top performers:

• Senior Alec Tabada scored 14 points on 6-for-11 shooting from the field with seven rebounds and a game-high three blocks to lead St. Joseph's
• Senior Ryan McNeely contributed 13 points on 5-for-11 shooting, while adding four rebounds and two assists
• Graduate Student Justin Forest added 11 points and a team-high three steals
• Senior Spencer Malloy collected 10 points, seven rebounds, and tied the game-high with four assists
• Gabe Bristow scored a game-high 19 points for the Panthers, going 6-for-17 from the field and 5-for-12 from beyond the arc, while tying the game-high with five steals
• Desmond Ward recorded a double-double of 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds
• Wesley Fulcher added 13 points with three rebounds, while Trey Skeete contributed five steals which tied the game-high

How it happened:

• The Golden Eagles built a 7-2 lead in the first three and a half minutes of the game, with Tabada scoring five of those points
• Purchase proceeded to tie the game at seven on a Skeete jumper followed by a three for Bristow at the 15:37 mark
• St. Joseph's responded by going on a 10-0 run to take a 17-7 lead on a three for McNeely at the 13:40 mark. McNeely scored the final five points of the run
• The Panthers went on a 12-2 run shortly after, with Bristow's three finishing the run which tied the game at 19 apiece with 8:37 on the clock
• Graduate Student Matt Coletti responded with a three of his own 20 seconds later to put the hosts back in the lead 22-19
• About four minutes later with the Golden Eagles ahead 26-21, McNeely delivered a three-point play to increase the lead to eight (29-21) with 4:09 remaining in the half
• SJLI took a lead of 10 (34-24) two minutes later on a Tabada layup, before they took their largest lead of the half to finish the half, as Tabada made consecutive layups in the final minute to give the Golden Eagles a 12-point lead (38-26) going into the break
• About two minutes into the second half, McNeely's second three-point play of the game gave the hosts their biggest lead of the afternoon, increasing the lead to 16 (45-29) at the 17:52 mark
• A pair of three-point baskets for Bristow and a three for Sean Holzman trimmed the deficit to seven (49-42) with 12:03 on the clock, then the visitors went on a 7-1 run shortly after to cut the lead to three (54-51) on Fulcher's layup at the 6:40 mark
• With the hosts ahead by three (56-53) about a minute later, Coletti connected with a three to increase the lead to six
• The Panthers continued to chip away, then Coletti hit another big three with 3:21 on the clock to put the Golden Eagles ahead by six (64-58)
• Purchase came within two (64-62) on four consecutive free throws, two for Matthew Phillips and two for Tyler Bond with 2:37 remaining
• Junior Justin Turner made a key jumper at the 50 second mark to make it a two possession game (66-62)
• A pair of free throws for Fulcher cut the deficit to two (66-64) with 39 seconds remaining, then Forest made two big free throws for St. Joseph's to increase the lead back to four (68-64) with five seconds on the clock
• A three for Ward made it a one-point game (68-67) with less than a second remaining, but it wasn't enough as the Golden Eagles held on to a 68-67 Skyline Conference win

Notes:

• St. Joseph's shot 45.5% from the field and 37.5% from three-point range
• The Panthers posted a 35.6% shooting percentage overall and 27.6% from beyond the arc
• The Golden Eagles held a slim 37-36 advantage in rebounds, while also out-scoring the Panthers in the paint 32-24
• Purchase's bench contributed 21 points, while SJLI's bench added 12

Next up:

The Golden Eagles head on the road to Manhattanville University to play the Valiants for a conference match-up on Wednesday, February 5 at 7:00pm.