ATLANTA — The St. Joseph's College men's basketball team (4-5) wrapped up their trip to the Peach State with an 84-55 loss to Southern Athletic Association foe Berry University (10-2) on Monday afternoon at Oglethorpe University's Holiday Inn Express Classic.

Senior Frank Reali (Staten Island, N.Y./Susan Wagner) scored a game-high-tying 15 points to lead 10 different Bears to score a point.

How it Happened

The Bears controlled the opening moments of the contest scoring the first six points of the game capped off by a steal and fast-break alley-oop from Sebastien Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep) to brother Stephane Etheart (Hollis, N.Y./St. Francis Prep). 

But a turning point ensued less than five minutes in as Stephane and Berry starter Drew Jones were both sent off after a scrum for a loose ball.  Coming out of the media timeout, the Vikings quickly turned the tide with the Bears missing their leading scorer. Berry reversed an 8-5 SJC lead with a 26-5 run over eight minutes for a 31-13 lead and never looked back.

Reali led all scorers with 11 points in the half, while fellow senior Kavan Meiner (Staten Island, NY/Susan Wagner) provided seven points of his own. Despite their efforts, the Bears went into the lockers down 43-28.

While Berry pulled away from the Bears in the second stanza, SJC saw a quartet of freshmen score 18 of the team's 27 points in the period. Chris Edwards (Staten Island, N.Y./Monsignor Farrell), James Mojica (South Ozone Park, N.Y./Archbishop Molloy) and Anderson Beltre (East Elmhurst, N.Y./Holy Cross) each dropped five points. Joe Sheehan (Staten Island, N.Y./Gaynor McCown) registered three points in the half. However, the Vikings came out on top, winning the game 84-55.

For the Bears

• Meiner finished the game with nine points while Edwards netted seven.
• Beltre's five points and Sheehan's three were new season-highs for the freshman duo.
• Mojica's five points were two shy of matching his season-high of seven points.
• Sebastien Etheart distributed a game-high six assists.
• Matt McQuillen (Staten Island, N.Y./St. Peters) matched his season-high five rebounds in the loss.

Up Next

The Bears fly back home and open the new decade facing Kean University in their final non-conference tilt of the season on January 4, 2020 from Union, N.J. Tip-off is scheduled for 3 p.m. with live stats and video available on SJCBears.com/live.