Men’s Basketball Downed by Medgar Evers in Season Opener

Written by Andrew Capitelli (SJC-LI Sports Information)

Patchogue, NY| The St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's basketball team opened its 2016-17 season with a 94-61 loss to Medgar Evers College in a non-conference contest played inside the Danzi Center on Tuesday evening,

The loss ensures the Golden Eagles start the season with a 0-1 record as the Cougars move to 1-0 with the win.

Medgar Evers jumped out to early leads as SJC struggled to find its rhythm in the first half. The Cougars built advantages of 15-9, 27-14 and 36-19 before taking a 43-25 edge into the break. SJC shot just 23.3% from the field in the opening frame.

The Golden Eagles tallied six of the second half's first eight points to cut the deficit to 14 (45-31) but the Cougars maintained their double-digit lead throughout the period, and led by as much as 34 points (92-58), before clinching the 94-61 victory.

Senior Andy Laurent led SJC was 19 points on 7-17 shooting from the field. The guard also shared the team-lead in rebounds (6) with junior Isaiah Moore (10 points). Additionally, the Amityville, NY native's three steals saw him leapfrog his brother, Olivier, into 10th place in SJC all-time career steals (112).

Junior CJ Capilets contributed 12 points (3-7 FG) and freshman Joe Santoro collected seven points (2-4 FG) and four steals in his collegiate debut.

Medgar Evers' Maurice Swaby II posted a double-double going for 32 points and 11 rebounds.

The Golden Eagles return to action on Friday, November 18 when they take on Ithaca on the road in the Cortaca Classic at 8:00 PM. Live stats for the contest will be available here.