Men’s Basketball Downed by Sage on Wednesday

Written by Andrew Capitelli (SJC-LI Sports Information)

Patchogue, NY| A slow start doomed the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's basketball team in a 94-62 Skyline Conference loss to The Sage Colleges inside the Danzi Center on Wednesday evening.

With the loss the Golden Eagles slide to 5-13 overall and 4-5 in conference play and sit just outside of a playoff position in the South Division. The Gators, meanwhile, improve to 11-7 (7-2 Skyline) and sit atop the North Division standings.

Leading the way for SJC were seniors Andy Laurent and Max DeMartino who tallied 11 points apiece. DeMartino, who missed the first 13 games of the season due to injury and made his season debut on January 14, shot 4-6 from the field and 3-4 from three to establish a new career-high in points.

Junior Isaiah Moore (3-8 FG) and freshman Joe Santoro (4-9 FG) contributed nine points each, and senior Fernando Vazquez added seven.

A Dan Brzozka layup 1:37 into the game gave the Golden Eagles an early 3-1 lead but it would be the only advantage the hosts would hold in the contest. Sage would go on to compile a 17-2 run to go ahead 18-5 and later took a 23-point lead (45-22) into the break.

The second half yielded more of the same as the Gators continued to score in bunches holding SJC at arm's length. Santoro's layup with 12:34 to play in regulation brought the Golden Eagles back to within 17 points, but it would be the closest SJC came to catching the Gators before succumbing to a 32-point deficit (94-62).

St. Joseph's, who rebounded well (32-32), struggled from the field and shot 43.6% and was outpaced by Sage who shot 53.1%. Additionally, the Gators forced SJC into 20 turnovers and generated 30 points off of them.

The Golden Eagles return to action on Saturday, January 28 when they host Skyline rival Sarah Lawrence on Alumni Day. Tip-off is set for 3:00 PM. Live stats will be available here.