BROOKLYN, N.Y. — Trailing by as many as 14 points, senior Matt O'Neill (Brooklyn, N.Y./St. Edmund Prep) scored 29 of his career-high 36 points as the St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team used a strong second-half surge to move back above .500 and level their conference record, defeating Sarah Lawrence College, 89-80, on Saturday afternoon at the Hill Center.

The Basics

• Final Score: St. Joseph's 89, Sarah Lawrence 80
• Records: St. Joseph's (7-6, 5-5 Skyline), Sarah Lawrence (2-11, 0-9 Skyline)
• Date: January 9, 2016
• Location: Brooklyn, N.Y.
• Arena: The Hill Center
• Starters:
  • St. Joseph's: Murray (G), O'Neill (G), Willis (G), Salomons (F), Archer (F)
  • Sarah Lawrence: Rocheleau (G), Gerak (G), Hagmaier (F), Radosavljevic (F), Gilleran (F)

Turning Point

• Trailing by five, 61-56, with 12:58 remaining, Matt O'Neill responded with nine consecutive points in a 3:18 span jump starting a 17-2 run that built a double-digit Bears lead and they never trailed again.

How it Happened

• Trailing 8-2 early, the Bears clawed back with an 12-2 run to claim their first lead. Alex Willis capped the run with a three-pointer at the 15:47 mark of the first half to make it 14-10 St. Joseph's.
• After trading baskets for the next five minutes, Justin Manon's triple made it 30-22 to give the Bears some separation midway through the first.
• Sarah Lawrence closed the stanza with a 29-12 onslaught, including a 10-0 run to reclaim the lead. St. Joseph's did manage the last five points of the half, including Matt O'Neill's buzzer-beating jumper, but they entered the break trailing 51-42.
• Trailing 55-45 early in the second, the Bears ran off 11 straight points, seven of them from O'Neill, to reclaim the lead with 14:43 remaining.
• The Gryphons briefly reclaimed the momentum with a 6-0 spurt, but O'Neill buried nine consecutive points to give his side a slight 65-63 advantage at the 9:06 mark.
• With just 2:09 remaining, the lead had ballooned to 14, 84-70, as O'Neill and the Bears continued to impose their will, finding the stroke from the charity stripe after struggling for a large portion of the game.

For the Bears

• Matt O'Neill netted a career-high 36 points on 10-of-24 shooting from the field and 3-of-9 and from downtown. The senior also connected on 13-of-18 attempts from the line, both also career highs. He added eight rebounds and a game-high six thefts in a dominating all-around effort.
• Senior Jamir Archer scored 13 and grabbed 11 boards for his second consecutive double-double.
• In his second career start, freshman Sean Salomons tallied career highs in points (11), rebounds (7), assists (3) and steals (3).
• Alex Willis buried three from long range en route to nine points. The sophomore added four steals and a pair of helpers.

For the Gryphons

• Mat Gerak led Sarah Lawrence with a 23-point effort thanks to an efficient 7-of-9 shooting from the field and an almost-perfect 9-of-10 from the line.
• Graham Gilleran netted 17 and grabbed 11 caroms for the double-double.
• Stevan Radosavljevic flirted with a double-double, contributing 16 points and nine boards in a losing effort.

Inside the Box Score

• It was a tale of two halves as the Bears, trailing 51-42 after the break, controlled the second half 47-29 to earn the comeback victory.
• St. Joseph's forced 16 Gryphon miscues in the second half, and gained a sizeable 31-5 advantage in points off turnovers in the period and 49-14 for the contest.
• Sarah Lawrence maintained a 49-38 advantage on the glass, but the Bears used 19 rebounds on the offensive end to hold a 17-13 edge in second chance scoring.
• The Gryphons built their early lead with efficient shooting, finishing the game at 47.5 percent (28-59) from the floor and 94.7 percent (18-19) from the charity stripe.
• Ranked second in the league in the category entering the game, the Bears +18 turnover margin and 20 steals are both season highs.

The Bear Facts

• The Bears were without second-leading scorer and Skyline leading rebounder Michael Megafu for the second straight game, who didn't play due to an injury suffered in the Purchase game on Monday.
• O'Neill's 36 points matches the second highest tally recorded in Bears history matching Luke Caccavo's 36 points vs. Medgar Evers in 2004. The all-time single game record is held by Bobby Knapp with 59 points in 1998.
• O'Neill scored 29 points in the second half alone, surpassing his previous career high of 27.
• St. Joseph's moves back above .500 (7-6) for the season and levels their conference record at 5-5.
• The Bears improve to a perfect 15-0 in the all-time series against Sarah Lawrence and claim the season sweep after a 93-64 victory in Bronxville on December 5.

Next up for St. Joseph's

The Bears continue Skyline Conference play on Tuesday, January 12th at SUNY College at Old Westbury looking to sweep the season series after an 81-63 victory in the Hill Center in December. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. with the Bears playing in the night cap of a doubleheader with the women. Live stats will be available on SJCBears.com.