PATCHOGUE, N.Y. – Led by 23 points and 16 rebounds from junior Carlos Valdez (Carolina, Puerto Rico) and the clutch shooting of freshman Joe Stabach (Staten Island, N.Y.), Mount Saint Mary College earned a Skyline Conference victory over St. Joseph's College on Saturday, 98-86. Winners of three straight, the Knights improved to 11-5 overall (9-2 Skyline), while the Golden Eagles, previously unbeaten in the Skyline, dropped to 14-2 (10-1 Skyline).
Trailing by four (55-51) five minutes into the second half, the Knights came alive with back-to-back three-pointers from Stabach. The triples would kickstart an 18-1 run and a jumper by Valdez with 9:46 to play staked the Mount to a 69-56 advantage.
The Golden Eagles would creep to within six on a three-pointer from junior Trey Black (Bayport, N.Y.), but the Knights would have none of it, as freshman Donte Howell (Baldwin, N.Y.) continued to shine in the finest effort of his young career. The freshman responded to the Black triple with a pair of free throws, and two minutes later, knocked down a jumper to push the Mount lead back to nine. St. Joseph's would get no closer than eight over the final six minutes, as the Knights took care of their free throws en route to the 12-point victory.
Valdez, flashing some signs of the brilliance that highlighted his first two seasons, finished with a team-high 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the floor. The junior also completed his first double-double since December 11 with a game-high 16 rebounds.
In addition to the two key triples in the second half, Stabach would connect on four others from long range. The freshman finished 6-of-9 from three-point land and with 21 points. Howell (4-for-11 FG) did most of his damage at the free throw line, hitting 10-of-12 attempts, and finished with a career-high 19 points.
Junior Olivier Laurent (Amityville, N.Y.) led the Golden Eagles with 27 points on 13-of-22 from the field. He also added four rebounds and four assists. Black, who shot 6-of-19, still managed to finish with 24 points on the strength of an 11-for-16 effort at the line. Junior Steve Velazquez (Hauppauge, N.Y.) added 14 points for St. Joseph's.
The normally sharp-shooting Golden Eagles struggled to find the range from three-point territory and finished the contest just 6-of-27 (22.2-percent). They shot 42.7-percent overall as compared to a 48.5-percent clip for the visiting Knights. Mount Saint Mary held a 52-38 advantage in rebounds.
Up next for the surging Knights is a trip to Bard College on Wednesday, January 26. The tip is scheduled for 8:00 p.m., following a women's game at 6:00 p.m.