LIVE STREAM
The men's basketball team cruised to an 83-67 victory over St. Joseph's College Long Island in their season opener on Saturday afternoon at the Doghouse. The Golden Eagles drop to 0-2 on the season.
Sophomore Hakeem Animashaun led all scorers with 20 points, going 8-for-10 from the free-throw line, seven rebounds, and a game-high three steals. Freshman
Kyle LaGuardia recorded his first collegiate double-double with 11 points, 10 boards, and two steals. Senior
MiKing Richardson registered 15 points, a game-high six assists, and six rebounds. Freshman
Matt Hudzik finished with 17 points in his collegiate debut and sophomore
Doug Levy grabbed a game-high 12 rebounds. Junior
Luciano Cruz-Fernandez added eight points and eight boards.
The first three minutes of play consisted of four lead changes as the score was tied 8-8. Three minutes later, LaGuardia carried John Jay on a 7-0 run as the freshman scored five of the seven points. The Golden Eagles responded to tie the game at 18 apiece with 10:34 left in the first half. A three-pointer by Hudzik and two free-throws by Petty gave John Jay a five-point advantage. SJC cut the deficit to two but four successful free-throws by Animashaun and a three by Cruz-Fernandez increased John Jay's lead back up to 30-21. The Bloodhounds went into halftime holding a 38-30 advantage.
Animashaun opened the second period with two free-throws. Three minutes into the half, the Golden Eagles trailed 43-36. Hudzik followed with five straight points and a layup by Richardson put the Bloodhounds ahead 50-36. With 6:57 remaining, St. Joesph's cut the lead down to nine. However, John Jay responded with back-to-back layups by Animashaun and a free-throw by LaGuardia to go up 70-56. The Bloodhounds would not look back to win their first season-opener since November 15, 2013.
John Jay finished 27-for-69 (39.1%) from the floor, 9-for-33 (27.3%) from behind the arc, and 20-for-27 (74.1%) from the free-throw line.
The Bloodhounds travel to Alfred State College on Saturday, November 25, for a non-conference game at 2:00 pm.
