Men's Basketball Holds Off St. Elizabeth, 63-62

When and Where:

November 25, 2023 - St. Joseph Hall (Morristown, NJ)

Records:

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

St. Elizabeth, 1-4

Results:

The St. Joseph's University, New York (L.I.) men's basketball team holds off St. Elizabeth late, with a 63-62 victory on Saturday afternoon.

Top performers:

• Junior Xavier Allen led the Golden Eagles with a game-high 20 points to go along with eight rebounds, three assists, two steals and one block

• Senior Spencer Malloy finished with 12 points, nine rebounds, and two assists

• Senior Ryan McNeely scored 14 points off the bench, collecting two rebounds, two steals and one block

• Junior Alec Tabada tallied four points, one assist, one steal, and a team-high 11 rebounds

• St. Elizabeth's D'Angelo Blackmond completed the double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, adding three assists, one steal and one block

• Pierre Harden and Lawrence Reid totaled 12 and 10 points, respectively 

How it happened:

• As the game got underway, both teams exchanged baskets early, with the Eagles pulling ahead by six at the halfway point in the first half off of back-to-back jump shots from Lawrence and Nasir Owens

• With just three minutes left in the first half, St. Elizabeth would build their lead up to eight points off a three from Tyrese Convover 

• In the final three minutes of the first half, Malloy would go on to score six straight points for the Golden Eagles to cut the lead to just four heading into the break

• SEU started the second half with another three from Conover; Allen would respond just a minute later with a three of his own to bring the lead to four

• Dillon Hod would tie the game at 34 on a layup that saw the forward get fouled in the act of shooting, which would be converted at the line to give St. Joseph's their first lead since the early minutes of action

• Hod would score eight points a part of SJLI's 17-3 run to take a nine-point lead at the halfway mark of the second half

• Over the next two minutes, St. Elizabeth responded with a short scoring run of their own, producing eight points that was capped by a Johnathon Ramos three 

• Back-to-back jump shots from Allen brought the Golden Eagle lead back to five with just seven minutes to go

• McNeely hit a crucial three-pointer to bring the lead to five with just over three minutes to go, but the Eagles responded with a seven-point scoring run to take the lead by one at the two-minute mark

• It was all Tabada down the stretch for St. Joseph's when trailing by one; the forward would receive a pass from Malloy off a backdoor cut, laying it up off the glass to take a one-point lead

• After St. Elizabeth's, Blackmond responded with a layup of his own to give the SEU the lead again it was Tabada again who secured the offensive rebound to go back up with it again to take the one-point lead with seven seconds remaining

• A good defensive effort from Tabada on the last possession of the game kept St. Elizabeth from getting a shot off in time, securing the victory for SJLI

Notes:

• The Golden Eagles shot 24-61 from the field (39.3%) and 4-14 from three-point range (28.6%)

• St. Elizabeth went 24-65 from the floor and 7-20 from beyond the arc

• SEU held a slight rebounding edge, 43-42

• SJLI had more points off the bench, 24-20

• There were 20 lead changes in the game 

The Golden Eagles return to action on Wednesday, November 29, when they travel to Stevens for a non-conference matchup at 7:00 pm.