By: Michael L. Damon
mdamon@jjay.cuny.edu
(212) 237-8322
Box Score Brooklyn, N.Y.— In a game that saw six lead changes and nine ties, the John Jay men's basketball team fell on the short end of the contest as the Bloodhounds were defeated by St. Joseph's-Brooklyn in an 89-82 in a contest played at Brooklyn Technical High School on Saturday afternoon.
The loss was the first for John Jay this season as the Bloodhounds fall to 3-1 overall. John Jay will now enter conference play on Tuesday against Hunter College in John Jay's annual homecoming event.
In Saturday's loss, Jamal Harry had his second double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds. He shot 7-for-15 from the field and had three assists and three steals in the contest. Fellow teammate
Jerome Alexander had his fourth straight game of twenty plus points. He netted a game-high 29 off the bench with five assists.
Matt Collins also had a strong offensive game with 17 points (3-for-6 from three point range) and three assists.
The host Golden Bears had five players score in double figures, and were led by Jan Rogowski with 19 on 7-for-12 shooting.
Both teams had the hot hand in the first half. The Bloodhounds shot fifty percent (17-for-34) from the field, while St. Joseph's-Brooklyn connected on 56.3 percent (18-for-32) in the opening stanza, en route to a high scoring first half that found the game tied at 48-48 at the break.
The Golden Bears got first run on the Bloodhounds as they opened the game connecting on a pair of three point field goals to go up 6-0 to start. But John Jay hung around and while trailing 23-17, used a 9-0 run to take its first lead of the game and capped the run on a continuation three point play by Alexander, who scored seven of the nine points during the run.
The Bloodhounds kept the momentum and eventually took a 31-24 lead to total a 14-2 spurt overall.
John Jay tenaciously held the lead the rest of the first half. St. Joseph's-Brooklyn trimmed the Bloodhound lead to as little as one on three occasions late in the first half before John Jay increased the margin each time. Finally, with seven seconds left, St. Joseph's-Brooklyn tied the game to go into halftime tied at 48-48.
The Bloodhounds raced out of the second half on an 8-0 run to take a 56-48 lead with 3:02 gone by. But the Golden Bears countered by scoring the next 10 points to take a 58-56 lead with just over thirteen minutes to play.
Both teams played a ding-dong battle over the next several minutes. Five of the game's nine ties occurred over the final 12:36 of the game.
Collins netted a three point field goal to break a 71-71 tie with 6:17 to go. Then Harry connected on a field goal with 5:08 to play to keep the lead at three.
But St. Joseph's-Brooklyn used a run over the final five minutes to give them a sizable lead en route to the win.
After Harry's field goal, the Golden Bears went on a 10-0 run to take a 83-76 lead with 2:06 remaining.
John Jay cut it to two at 83-81 with 1:06 to play on a three pointer by Collins. But clutch free throw shooting in the final minute (6-for-6) by the hosts, along with several misses by the Bloodhounds, preserved the win for the Golden Bears.
Both teams committed 17 turnovers in the contest. The Bloodhounds held a 20-13 advantage in points off turnovers, while St. Joseph's-Brooklyn held a 14-5 advantage on second chance points.
