Vazquez's 21 Lead SJC Over Yeshiva to Hold on to First Place Tie

New York, N.Y.- The St. Joseph's College men's basketball team's (13-7, 10-3 Skyline) momentum from Tuesday evening's near buzzer-beating win over Old Westbury carried over to another tight, 80-74, victory over the Skyline Conference's second place Yeshiva Maccabees (11-6, 8-4 Skyline) Thursday night at the Max Stern Athletic Center.  With the win, the Golden Eagles successfully retained their three-way tie for first place in the Skyline standings with Sage and Mount Saint Vincent.

St. Joseph's had a sluggish start to the contest, as the team was unable to connect on a basket until 15:52 when forward Darryl Charles (Middleton, N.Y./ Poughkeepsie) went 2-for-2 from the free throw line.

Down 12-2, the Golden Eagles started to slowly hack at the Maccabee's lead going on an 8-0 run that featured made baskets from Andy Laurent (Amityville, N.Y./ Amityville), Fernando Vazquez (West Babylon, N.Y./ West Babylon), and Charles.

The Maccabees and the Golden Eagles went on to swap shots with each other until Vazquez completed back-to-back momentum shifting plays. At 9:47 Vazquez made a move from beyond the arc launching a shot and drawing a Maccabee foul, where he went 3-for-3 from the free throw line. During the next Golden Eagle possession, Vazquez handled the ball again from deep-range connecting on a three-point shot, cutting the deficit down to one point.

Yeshiva responded to Vazquez's strong play by going on a 7-0 push. Again, SJC edged their way back into the game after Evan Mohammed (Bayside, N.Y./ Holy Cross), Laurent, and Vazquez made three balls while Brady Colucci (Port Jefferson, N.Y./ Port Jefferson) made a lay-up with 17 seconds remaining to finish the half on the wrong side of 40-39.

Coming out of break, guard Nick Gallina (Lake Grove, N.Y./ Sachem North) made a lay-up to overtake Yeshiva's lead for the first time on the night, but the Maccabees were hasty to take it back after finishing a 15-7 run.

At 8:59 Laurent forced a steal, drove the ball down the court, and dished a pass to forward Sean McCarthy (Kings Point, N.Y./ Kings Point) who finished the play with a made three-point shot to lift the Eagles to a 60-59 lead.

For the rest of the evening the visitors refused to relinquish the lead, as the team missed only one jump shot in the final nine minutes.

A late Vazquez three-pointer nearly sealed the game for SJC with Yeshiva forcing to foul in the final minutes.  Laurent, Charles, and Gallina all remained focused from the line, hitting their free throws to cap the victory.

Two Golden Eagles, Vazquez (21) and Laurent (20), dialed up a twenty-point or better outing. Vazquez also tallied three assists, two rebounds and three steals.  Laurent picked up four assists, three rebounds, and three steals.

Charles (12) and McCarthy (10) were two more Eagles who notched double-digit scoring figures with Charles contributing four rebounds and four blocks, while McCarthy attained two boards, one assist and a block.

St. Joseph's College will look to extend their winning streak to three games as the team readies for Skyline Conference action against the Sage Gators on the road this Saturday at 3:00 p.m.