Patchogue, N.Y. – Evan Mohammed's (Bayside, N.Y./Holy Cross) 23 points led the St. Joseph's (1-2) men's basketball team to their first victory of the season in Saturday night's home opener against CCNY (3-1) by a score of 81-73. The sophomore guard was a blistering 6-for-7 from the three-point land (7-for-9 FG) with 14 of his points coming in the first half.
Junior forward Keith Anderson (Central Islip, N.Y./North Babylon) playing in his first home game as an Eagle, scored 19 points on 9-for-18 from the field, had a team high 12 rebounds and five steals. Sophomore guard Sean McCarthy (Kings Park, N.Y./Kings Park) continued his strong play this season by shooting 50% on 4-for-8 and tallying five rebounds and five assists.
The Eagles controlled the game early, leading by as much as 15 in the first half, as Anderson and Mohammed combined for 24 of St. Joseph's 34 first half points. However, CCNY made a push at the end of the first half, by going on a 14-3 run, and grabbed a 35-34 lead heading into the lockeroom.
St. Joseph's came out firing in the second half taking a 38-37 lead with 18:24 left in the game off two free throws from Mohammed. The Eagles defense locked down the Beavers and never squandered the lead. CCNY managed to only shoot 26.7%, on 12-of-45, from the field and an abysmal 8.3%, on 1-of-12, from three-point land for the second half. St. Joseph's was outrebounded 53-41, but made up for it with both strong defense and three-point shooting.
St. Joseph's will not return to the court until next Saturday (Dec. 1) at Mount Saint Vincent College (1-1) for their first Skyline Conference game of the young season. The Golden Eagles look to continue with the trend of strong conference play; they won 17 of 19 games against Skyline Conference opponents last season.