NEWBURGH, N.Y. - Boosted by red-hot shooting and an impressive defensive effort, the Mount Saint Mary College men's basketball team defeated previously Skyline-unbeaten St. Joseph's College by a final margin of 99-61 in a conference game on Thursday evening in the Kaplan Center.  The Knights improve to 17-5 overall (12-3 Skyline), while the Golden Eagles drop to 18-3 overall (14-1 Skyline).

Leading 17-14 at the 12-minute mark of the first half, the Knights rattled off an 18-0 run and when a three-pointer from junior Lenny Ragaglia (Staten Island, N.Y.) found the mark at 7:32, the Mount led 35-14.  St. Joseph's finally broke up the run with a layup, but the Knights answered with the next ten.  This time, a three-ball from sophomore Joe Stabach (Staten Island, N.Y.) capped the run to make it 45-16 with 4:24 remaining in the half.

The Mount carried a 54-21 advantage into the break and never looked back.  A three-pointer from sophomore Chris Pisciotta (New Hyde Park, N.Y.) was on target at the 10:43 mark, giving the Knights their largest lead of the evening, 46 at 80-34.  The Knights eased their way down the stretch for a 38-point win.

Ragaglia led the Knights with 18 points, doing all of his damage from three-point land.  He hit on 6-of-9 from behind the arc.  Stabach was next with 17 points, while senior Carlos Valdez (Carolina, Puerto Rico) put up a monster double-double with 16 points and 17 rebounds.  Sophomore Donte Howell (Baldwin, N.Y.) also completed a double-double with 11 points and 10 assists, as Pisciotta just missed a double-double with 12 points and eight rebounds.

Senior Olivier Laurent (Amityville, N.Y.) led the Golden Eagles with 13 points, but hit on just 6-of-19 from the field.  Senior Trey Black (Bayport, N.Y.) had 12 points on 3-of-9 from three and senior Steven Velazquez (Bayside, N.Y.) had 10 points.

The Knights held a 54-34 advantage on the glass and shot a torrid 53.6-percent from the field.  Even more impressive, the Mount was 15-of-27 (55.6-percent) from three-point range.  The Golden Eagles, meanwhile, shot just 29.7-percent from the field and 9-of-41 (22.0-percent) from three.  The 61 points was a season-low point total for St. Joseph's, which had not scored fewer than 75 points all season.

Up next for the Mount is a road game at Maritime College on Saturday.  The tip is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. in Throggs Neck, New York.