Men's Basketball 12/23/2022 12:16:00 PM

Cougars put forth hearty effort in loss to Division I St. Francis-Brooklyn

Box Score The Medgar Evers men's basketball team lost an exhibition contest on Thursday evening, falling to Division I St. Francis Brooklyn by a score of 89-66. The game took place at the Pratt Institute ARC in Brooklyn, NY. As per NCAA rules, while the contest does not reflect in the Cougars overall record, it was a regular season game for the Terriers, who have now won two straight games, improving to a mark of 6-6 on the 2022-2023 campaign.

Despite the loss for the Cougars, veteran Andre Evans Jr. led Medgar Evers with a team-high 13 points. He also snatched five rebounds and added four assists, as well. Senior Dimitri Weeks contributed 12 points and three boards, and freshman Jacob Green added 10 points, five rebounds, and a team-high five assists. Finally, it was senior Mousa Sinera narrowly missing a double-double, scoring nine points and snatching a game-high 16 rebounds.

Four players finished in double-digits for the Terriers. Larry Moreno led all scorers with 20 points, adding a game-high five steals, as well. Di'Andre Howell-South finalized his evening with 16 points (8-9 FT) and six caroms. Rob Higgins scored 10 points and piled eight assists, eclipsing the 1,000-point mark for his St. Francis-Brooklyn career in the process. Finally, it was Max Egner registering a double-double with 10 points and 12 boards.

Things looked promising for Medgar Evers in the early stages, as the Cougars came out hungry, building a 13-6 edge in the opening 6:10 on the backs of Sinera and Joshua Jean-Pierre, who scored four points apiece during that early push. The Terriers answered with an 8-0 spurt over a span of 2:00 to jump ahead 14-13.

Over the course of the ensuing 2:34, the teams exchanged the lead five times, the latter of those pendulum swings coming when Evans connected on a jumper in the paint to put the Cougars ahead 22-21. The turning point of the game came at this juncture, when St. Francis-Brooklyn put together an 11-0 run to catapult ahead 32-22. The Terriers maintained that edge, taking a 37-26 advantage into the final media timeout of the session, before heading into the locker room with a comfortable 43-30 lead.

Terriers came out with a tremendous amount of intensity to start the second half, putting together an 8-0 run in the opening 1:26 to increase their edge to 21 points, 51-30. St. Francis-Brooklyn led by as many as 24 points in the second half, and despite the Cougars' strong effort to stay in the game (Medgar Evers sliced the deficit to 14 twice in the final five minutes), the Terriers' attack proved to be too much. St. Francis eventually won the borough battle by 23.

The Cougars lost the game despite shooting the basketball more efficiently than St. Francis-Brooklyn, as Medgar Evers connected on 30 of its 69 attempts from the floor (43.5 percent), compared to a 41.6 percent conversion rate for the Terriers (32-77). St. Francis-Brooklyn held a narrow 48-46 edge on the glass, while also nearly doubling-up Medgar Evers in the assists column (25-13). The Terriers swatted nine shots to the Cougars' four, while also dominating in steals, as well (15 to Medgar Evers' two). Finally, it was St. Francis-Brooklyn keeping its turnovers in the single digits, committing just eight miscues while forcing 21 Cougars mistakes.

Following a break for the Christmas holiday, Medgar Evers will return to the court next Thursday and Friday, hosting the third-ever Dr. Carol V. DeCosta/Go 4 the Goal Tournament. On Thursday evening, Saint John Fisher and Misericordia will play at 4:30pm, followed by the Cougars hosting SUNY Canton at 6:30pm. The two losing teams of those two aforementioned contests will clash in the consolation game the next day at 1:00pm, with the winners playing for the tournament crown at 3:00pm.

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