Spann Powers Men’s Basketball to 76-64 Win Over 1st Place Sage

Written by Andrew Capitelli (SJC-LI Sports Information)

Patchogue, NY| Senior Dominique Spann scored 22 points on 7-11 shooting to lift the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's basketball team to a 76-64 victory over The Sage Colleges inside the Danzi Center on Saturday afternoon. It was the first victory the Golden Eagles had over the Gators since 2011, and with it they improve to 5-8 (4-4) on the season while Sage—who sits atop the Skyline standings—falls to 9-5 (7-2).

After falling behind 13-6 4:52 into the game, the Golden Eagles compiled a 12-3 run capped off by a Stephen Cohen three-ball to take an 18-16 lead at 10:54. With the score tied at 20 with 8:03 remaining in the half, SJC used a 9-4 run to pull ahead 29-24, but Sage wrapped the half with a 7-3 streak to enter the break with a 32-31 advantage.

At 16:02 of the seconds half, the Golden Eagles pulled back ahead (40-39) after junior Fernando Vazquez drained a three-pointer. Sophomore Isaiah Moore followed with a jump shot to increase the lead to three points, but Sage's Marcus Patterson immediately responded with a three-ball of his own to tie the game at 42 with 13:30 to play.

Spann's two free throws at 13:02 would put the Golden Eagles back in front (44-42) and catapult the hosts to a 14-5 run to increase their lead to nine points (58-47) with 8:00 remaining. Sage's Andre Robinson's layup at 1:59 brought the Gators back within four points (66-62), but it would be the closest the guests would come to knotting up the score, as the Golden Eagles rode a 10-2 run to the buzzer to claim the 76-64 victory.

Spann's 22-point performance was his best since he dropped 27 points on CCNY on November 28. Moore went for 16 points and 12 boards to post his first-career double-double. Laurent—who was honored prior to the game for becoming the 12th player in SJC men's basketball history to score 1,000 career points—contributed 20 points and six assists, and Vazquez added nine points and three assists.

St. Joseph's shot better from the field (48.1%-41.4%) despite being outshot from beyond the arc (37.5%-23.5%). The hosts also held advantages in points in the paint (38-18) and fastbreak points (16-2).

The Golden Eagles return to action on Tuesday, January 12 when they welcome Skyline rival Farmingdale State to the Danzi Center for an 8:00 PM tip-off. Live stats will be available here.