Patchogue, N.Y. - Even after a valiant rally back into the game, the St. Joseph's Golden Eagles (1-6, 0-3 SKY) fell to the Yeshiva Maccabees (3-5, 3-2 SKY) 78-68. Keith Anderson's (Central Islip, N.Y./ North Babylon) game-high 34 points led SJC in their efforts.
The game began with a relatively even scoreboard; Anderson's four lay-ups and Evan Mohammad's (Bayside, N.Y./ Holy Cross) three-point jumper in addition toPhil Calixte's (Amityville, N.Y./ Holy Trinity) five points kept the Eagles soaring alongside Yeshiva. The Maccabees kicked it into gear for the last ten minutes of the first half however, slowly pulling away from the Eagles and capitalizing on their mistakes, finishing the half with a 33-26 lead.
Yeshiva only continued to widen the gap in the second half with Benjy Ritholtz's four three-pointers. The Eagles began to show signs of life with five minutes left in the game, finally bringing the score within nine points with two minutes left. SJC's last minute efforts were too little too late though as the Maccabees secured their victory sinking seven points in the last minute of the game, five of them free throws.
Despite the final score, the Golden Eagles did come out with some solid stats, grabbing 38 rebounds as a team, 20 of them offensive. Anderson's 34 points included six free throws and were in addition to his 13 rebounds, two assists and three steals. Calixte put up 14 points, ripped down four rebounds and grabbed three steals. The team shot 32% from the field and 58.3% from the free throw line.
The Golden Eagles will travel to Mahwah, New Jersey to take on the Ramapo Roadrunners on December 15 for a 3 p.m. game.