CENTER VALLEY, Pa. — The St. Joseph's College (Brooklyn) men's basketball team returned to the hardwood after a two-week break for finals and the holidays but came out sluggish and couldn't keep pace with DeSales University, falling 83-48 in the opening round of the Al Senavitis Memorial Tournament on Thursday evening. 

The Basics

• Final Score: DeSales 83, St. Joseph's 48
• Records:  DeSales (7-3) St. Joseph's (2-7)
• Location: Center Valley, Pa.
• Arena: Billera Hall
• SJC Starters: Willis (G), Giles (G), St. Etheart (F), Parra (F), Meiner (F)

Turning Point

• St. Joseph's was held scoreless for nearly six-and-a-half minutes in the opening half and DeSales went on a 12-0 run and the Bears never brought the deficit back to single digits.

How it Happened

• Layups from Kavan Meiner and Aaron Parra followed by an Alec Willis trifecta had St. Joseph's trailing by one, 8-7, just three minutes in but the Bears endured a 6:21 scoring drought to find themselves down 20-7 nearing the midway point of the period.
• A Joseph Idyahia triple ended the drought but the hosts closed out the half outscoring the Bears 20-10 to lead 39-19 at the intermission and the deficit only continued to grow in the second stanza.

For the Bears

• Freshman Stephane Etheart scored eight points and pulled down five rebounds in his first career start.
• Sophomore Joseph Idyahia shared team-high honors with eight points on 3-of-5 shooting and 2-of-4 from three-point land.
• Sophomore Aaron Parra added seven points, five rebounds, and two blocks.
• Junior Alec Willis also chipped in seven points and an assist.

Inside the Box Score

• A combined 29 different players saw action from with 24 scoring at least one point.
• The Bears were held to a season-low 19 field goals and their 19 points in the opening half was also a season worst.

The Bear Facts

• It was the first meeting ever between the two schools.
• DeSales had received votes in the preseason D3Hoops.com Top 25 poll.
• It was the first time St. Joseph's had suffered a 30-point loss since falling to Medgar Evers, 100-69, on February 7, 2011.

Next up for St. Joseph's

The Bears will face Juniata College — who fell to Alvernia University 66-57 in the other opening round game — in a consolation matchup tomorrow at 5 p.m. Live stats and video will be available at SJCBears.com.