Jimenez's Six Three's Allow Eagles to Soar Past Panthers

SJC Remains Unbeaten in Skyline Conference

Patchogue, N.Y. – The St. Joseph's College men's basketball team (15-2, Skyline 11-0) defeated the Purchase Panthers (7-11, Skyline 5-6), 84-70, to remain unbeaten in conference play. The win also extends the men's winning streak to five games.

Leading the way for the Eagles was senior guard Chris Jimenez (Huntington Station, NY/St. Anthony's) with 20 points on 6-of-12 shooting from beyond the arc. Senior forward Steven Velazquez (Hauppauge, NY/Hauppauge) added 17 points on five three pointers. Olivier Laurent (Amityville, NY/St. Anthony's added 15 points and Trey Black (Bayport, NY/Bayport-Blue Point) gave another strong performance with nine points, 11 assists, and seven rebounds.

St. Joseph's came out strong in the first half shooting an outstanding 58.1% from the floor and 9-of-15 from three-point land. The Panthers hung around though forcing 10 lead changes throughout the half and converting on their free-throw chances by going 10-for-12. The Golden Eagles went into the locker room with a halftime lead of 48-40.

The second half was more of same hot shooting from St. Joseph's. They shot 48.3% from the floor for the second half and finished the game at 53.5%. The Panthers weren't able to keep up and found themselves in a hole in the middle of the half. The Eagles went up 11, off a layup by Eric Klingsberg (Bayside, NY/Holy Cross) with 11:04 left in the game and never looked back. After the layup, St. Joseph's lead never dropped below double digits and went up by as many as 18.

The next game for St. Joseph's is a home match-up, on Wednesday February 1, against conference rival the Rams of Farmingdale (14-4, Skyline 10-1). The Rams currently sit in second place behind the Eagles, who defeated them earlier in the season at Farmingdale, 83-72.