PATCHOGUE, N.Y. (Jan. 24, 2024) – The USMMA men's basketball team dropped a conference battle to St. Joseph's-Long Island, 80-76 at the Danzi Athletic Center. USMMA moved to 7-11 (4-5 Skyline) after the defeat, while the Golden Eagles improved to 8-10 (2-7 Skyline).
Game Links
USMMA raced out to a 6-1 lead in the first two minutes of the opening half, before the game began to settle down. Neither the Mariners nor the Golden Eagles could create much separation on the scoreboard over the next four and half minutes, with each side adding eight points.
Kings Point pushed their lead up to 19-11 after a
Jakob Gonzales (Golden, Colo.) triple with just over 10 minutes left in the first half. That edge ballooned to as much as 11 points over the next 4:41 of game time, thanks in large part to seven points in that stretch from
DeMarcus Spivey (Ashburn, Va.). But the Golden Eagles closed the period strong, and went into the halftime break down by 3, 33-30.
Both the Mariners and the Golden Eagles came out strong on offense to begin the second half, although it was St. Joseph's who came out ahead after a 9-6 run over the first three minutes to tie things up at 39.
The second half remained tightly contested, with a total of 12 lead changes in just the second half alone. Neither side pulled ahead by more than three points, until St. Joseph's Xavier Allen nailed a three-pointer with 8:10 left in the game to put the Golden Eagles in front, 57-53.
That advantage quickly ballooned to eight points, with SJ-LI ripping off an 11-4 run to put the Mariners down 65-57. USMMA pulled to within three points with under a minute to play, but ultimately St. Joseph's was able to ice the game and pull out an 80-76 victory.
Spivey was the leading scorer with 21 points for USMMA to go along with six boards, four assists, and just a pair of turnovers.
Drew Zalescik (Lambertville, N.J.) dropped 18 points and eight rebounds, and
Isaac Vencel (Bloomington, Ind.) finished with 11 points, seven rebounds, six helpers, and a pair of steals.
For the Golden Eagles, Xavier Allen led all scorers with 27 points on 11-20 shooting. Spencer Malloy added a double-double with 20 points and 11 rebounds.
The Mariners are back in action this Saturday, January 27th, to take on Mount St. Mary, at Liebertz Gymnasium. Live stats and a live video feed of the game will be available with links on
the USMMA Men's Basketball Schedule Page.
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