Strong Second Half Sends Men's Basketball Over Sarah Lawrence

Written by Julia Ruocchio

When and Where:

January 14, 2023 - Patchogue, NY

Records:

St. Joseph's (L.I.), 7-7, 4-2 Skyline

Sarah Lawrence, 4-11, 2-4 Skyline 

Result:

The St. Joseph's University, New York (L.I.) men's basketball team came away with a 61-51 comeback win over Sarah Lawrence in a conference match-up at the Danzi Center on Saturday afternoon. 

Top performers: 

• Junior Spencer Malloy led the Golden Eagles with 14 points, going 7-for-12 from the field, and added six rebounds and two blocks
• Junior's Xavier Allen and Ryan McNeely each contributed 11 points, with Allen grabbing seven rebounds to go along with four steals
• Sophomore Alec Tabada made his first appearance of the season, scoring nine points in the win
• Sarah Lawrence's Eamon Kelly led all players with 16 points and added a pair of steals
• Lucas Murray contributed 14 points for the Gryphons and Amos Grey added a game-high 12 rebounds 

How it happened: 

• SLC's Kelly scored the first six points of the game to put the visitors up 6-0 right away
• St Joseph's fell behind 14-6 at the 14:56 mark, then a three-point shot by graduate Matthew Hirdt and an Allen layup cut the deficit to three (14-11)
• SJLI came within two (17-15) at the 7:49 mark on a Malloy jump shot, then Malloy's layup at 7:19 tied the game at 17
• The Gryphons out-scored St. Joseph's 10-6 in the final seven minutes of the frame, as Sarah Lawrence finished the half ahead 27-23
• SLC's Murray scored the first four points of the second half to increase their lead to 31-23, then Malloy made three consecutive baskets to trim the Gryphons' lead to 31-29
• Each team exchanged baskets for the next six minutes, then junior Ryan McNeely's triple at the 9:50 mark brought the Golden Eagles within one (39-38)
• The hosts remained one behind Sarah Lawrence's lead following a pair of layups for each side, then McNeely made a free throw with 7:16 on the clock that tied the game for the first time since the middle of the first half (43-43)
• Shortly after, Graduate Liam Sheehy's basket with 6:32 remaining gave the hosts their first lead of the game (45-43)
• SLC proceeded to tie the game at 45, then St. Joseph's took the lead back on McNeely's basket at the 5:45 mark
• The Golden Eagles would remain in the lead for the rest of the game, with McNeely's five points leading a 16-6 run to finish the contest with their largest lead of 10 points (61-51) 

Notes:

• St. Joseph's shot 41.4% from the field and 31.3% from three-point range
• Sarah Lawrence posted a 36.8% shooting percentage overall and 24.1% from beyond the arc
• The Golden Eagles shot 7-for-10 (70%) on free-throws in the second half
• St. Joseph's had 30 bench points compared to Sarah Lawrence's 10
• All 11 of McNeely's points came in the second half, helping the Golden Eagles out-score SLC 38-24 in the half to win the game 

The Golden Eagles return to action when they visit Mount St. Mary to take on the Knights for a conference match-up on Wednesday, January 18 at 7:00 pm