Semifinal Matchup Set for Thursday's Skyline Men's Basketball Tournament Home Game

Patchogue, N.Y. - The  Skyline Conference's number #2 seed St. Joseph's College (16-9, 13-5 Skyline) prepares to duel against #3 seed Mount Saint Vincent (18-8,13-5 Skyline) after the Dolphins handled #6 Purchase (9-17, 9-9 Skyline), 61-45, Tuesday night in the Skyline Conference's Men's Basketball Championship First Round.  

St. Joseph's College earned a first-round bye into the semifinal round of the Skyline Conference Tournament after garnering 13 league wins to place second in the Skyline standings.

St. Joseph's dominated the two regular season matchups against Mount Saint Vincent, allowing the Golden Eagles to win the tiebreaker for the first round bye.

In the first meeting between the teams this season, SJC won 73- 68, outscoring Mount Saint Vincent in both halves.  The Golden Eagles displayed a good mix of offense and defense by shooting 48 percent from the field and connecting on 8-of-16 three pointers.  They dominated the glass by outrebounding the Dolphins, 40-36.

Less than two weeks ago, as SJC hosted their Senior Day, the Golden Eagles overpowered the Dolphins, 92-58, in the last regular season home game at the Danzi Athletic Center.   

St. Joseph's scored at will, with five Golden Eagles reaching double-digits, as the team accumulated another high shooting percentage of 53.3% with 16 triples to expose the Dolphins weak perimeter defense.  Again, the Eagles controlled the backboard tallying 45 rebounds compared to the visitor's 28.

In the playoff rematch, SJC will rely on the scoring abilities and sleek defending of senior forward Sean McCarthy (Kings Point, N.Y./ Kings Point) who has averaged 20.5 points along with 9.5 rebounds against the Dolphins this season.  Sophomore guard Andy Laurent (Amityville, N.Y./Amityville) should also be a featured scorer for the Golden Eagles after averaging 17 points in those two games.   The Dolphins are led by senior James Zuccaro, who paced his team with 17.3 points per game and 7.5 rebounds this year.

The battle for a trip to the Skyline Conference Championship game will take place Thursday night at 7:00 p.m., the Danzi Athletic Center.  The victor will face either the top-seed Sage College (21-4, 15-3 Skyline) or #4 Old Westbury (13-13, 12-6 Skyline) in the finals on Saturday.  The Golden Eagles have a combined 1-3 record against those two squads.