Knights Befall Eagles With Late Game Surge

Patchogue, N.Y. — The Danzi Athletic Center was rocking on Monday night as fans watched the Golden Eagles (2-9, 1-3 Skyline) ultimately fall to the Mt. St. Mary Knights (8-3, 4-0 Skyline) in what was a heartbreakingly close Skyline Conference game.  St. Joseph's Andy Laurent (Amityville, N.Y./ Amityville) had the hot hand of the night, scoring a game-high 23 points, most of which were made during high pressure situations toward the end of the contest.  Laurent was also perfect from the free throw line, sinking all nine of his foul shots.

The Eagles stepped onto the court ready to play, officially grabbing a 19-17 lead with Jordan Kowalski's (North Babylon, N.Y./ Abilene (Texas)) two made free throws ten minutes into the first half. SJC established a solid nine-point advantage over the Knights by halftime, fighting off their full court press and defensively, forcing a fast pace.

Sean McCarthy's (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) three-pointer forty seconds into the second half, set the Eagles off on the right foot, pushing the score to 31-19 and causing the crowd to roar with approval.  The Knights, however, began to slowly chip away at their deficit. With only four minutes left in the game the score was tied, for the first time in twenty minutes, at 45. The visiting team essentially pulled away with the lead with three-minutes left in the game and refused to relinquish it until the final buzzer.  Despite the Eagle's aggressive play until the very end, the Knight's exceptional free throw accuracy in the final moments was too much to overcome.

In addition to his 23 points, Laurent had five rebounds and two steals.  Darryl Charles (Middletown, N.Y./ Poughkeepsie) logged an impressive nine points, ten rebounds, three blocks and a steal.  Sean McCarthy and Nick Gallina (Holbrook, N.Y./ Sachem North) each scored eight points.  The team shot 29.2% from the three-point line and 29.9% from the field.  The Eagles forced the Knights to turn over the ball a whopping 19 times while they only had eight turnovers themselves.

The Eagles will host NYU Polytechnic on Saturday for a 2 p.m. Skyline Conference game.