Men's Basketball Beats Mt. St. Vincent to Earn Trip to Skyline Finals

Patchogue, N.Y. - The #2 seed St. Joseph's College men's basketball team is advancing to the Skyline Tournament Finals after grounding the #3 Mount Saint Vincent Dolphins, 58-41, Thursday night in a rocking Danzi Athletic Center. The Golden Eagles were able to overcome the Dolphins after scorching the visitors with a 34-17 second half headed by guard Andy Laurent (Amityville, N.Y./ Amityville) scoring 18 of his 20 points in the period. 

The Golden Eagles advance to the Conference's championship round this Saturday to face top-seed Sage, who beat #4 Old Westbury in the other semifinal game.  The winner of the Skyline Championship receives an automatic bid into the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament.

The Dolphins came out of the gate outscoring the Golden Eagles 9-0, until Laurent stepped in and sunk a jump shot, followed by an Isaiah Moore (North Babylon, N.Y./ North Babylon) three-point goal, sparking the offense.

Moore and Fernando Vazquez (Babylon, N.Y./ Babylon) splashed three pointers, chipping the deficit to four points at 6:26.  Moments later, guard Nick Gallina (Lake Grove, N.Y./ Sachem North) snatched the ball away from a Dolphin attacker leading to another deep bucket, this time from forward Sean McCarthy (Kings Park, N.Y./ Kings Park).

At 2:59, Vazquez created space off an offensive move, shot a triple, missed and then scrambled for the rebound where he jacked up a shot and buried another three pointer to overtake Mount Saint Vincent's lead for the first time of the night.

With one-minute remaining, McCarthy drove in the paint where he was met with a foul; he went perfect from the free throw line.

The Dolphin's scored a late shot to tie the match sending both teams into intermission locked up at 24.

SJC shot admirably from beyond the arc in the first half, knocking down a robust 45.5% compared to the Dolphin's subpar 28.6%.

A "spin-o-rama" field goal from Darryl Charles (Middletown, N.Y./ Poughkeepsie) opened the half, immediately followed by a mid-range two-pointer by Moore.

Laurent pulled up at 16:56 and then at 16:11 to give St. Joseph's a five-point lead, which was later extended by a Vazquez trey that ignited the "Eagle's Nest." Three consecutive jump shots from Laurent elevated the Golden Eagle lead to 43-32.

Mount Saint Vincent scored the next two baskets, which were later answered by Moore made free throws and a crossover dagger from Laurent.

Charles and Laurent combined for the final baskets of the game after connecting on game clinching free throws.

St. Joseph's Laurent was automatic after a rough start, attaining a double-double by scoring 20 points and pounding the glass for 11 rebounds.

Vazquez and Moore tallied near identical nights in points and rebounds as Moore scored 14 points and Vazquez contributed 13 points while both added seven boards.  McCarthy was a force in the paint grabbing eight rebounds and recording six points.

St. Joseph's will now travel to Albany to take on the #1 seed Sage Gators, who are coming off a 92-74 victory over the #4 Old Westbury Panthers.  The Golden Eagles will be looking to become the road warriors against a strong Gators opponent, who are undefeated on their home court, and defeated SJC twice during the regular season.

SJC will be heading to the Skyline Tournament Championship game for the first time since the 2010-11 season.  They last made it to the NCAA Tournament in the 2011-12 campaign as an at-large selection.  Their last Skyline Conference title was captured in 2008-09.