Men’s Basketball Drops Home Opener to St. Elizabeth

Patchogue, NY| Senior Frank Basile scored a game-high 32 points in the St. Joseph's College (L.I.) men's basketball team's home-opening 102-89 defeat to the College of Saint Elizabeth inside the Danzi Center on Friday evening.

The loss sends the Golden Eagles to 1-1 overall on the year as the Eagles improve to 3-0.

Basile's 32 points came via 12-for-18 shooting from the field and 4-for-5 shooting from beyond the arc. The guard also collected seven rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Senior Doug Niblock contributed 15 points and five assists, and senior Jonah Caldwell scored eight points and grabbed a game-high 14 boards. Caldwell was the only player to record double-digit rebounds.

Senior Prabnoor Singh tallied 10 points on 3-for-8 shooting off the bench and sophomore Michael Darby contributed nine points. 

St. Elizabeth was paced by Jason Saldiveri, who tallied 19 points on 8-for-12 shooting from the floor.

A wild first half saw the hosts go up 21-12 6:32 into the contest when Basile drained a three-pointer, but the guests went on to outpace SJC in the remainder of the first half and took a 59-41 lead into the break.

St. Joseph's outscored the Eagles 48-43 in the second half but it wouldn't be enough as St. Elizabeth outlasted the hosts and earned the 13-point victory.

The Eagles were the better shooting side and held a 59.7% to 45.2% advantage from the floor and a 62.5% to 24.0% advantage from beyond the arc. 

SJC was the better team in the paint where they outscored St. Elizabeth 42-40 and grabbed six more rebounds (40-34).

The Golden Eagles return to action on Wednesday, November 20 when they visit Hunter College for a non-conference contest at 7:00 pm.