Despite shooting 43.8 percent from the floor and knocking down 26 of 34 free throws, the Mariners saw their 38-game conference home winning streak snapped. One of the top rebounding teams in the country, Kings Point which dropped its fifth-straight contest for the first time since the 1995-96 campaign -- held a sizeable 38-24 advantage on the boards.
Baumbach's 10-foot jumper from the left side of the paint capped off a game-ending 7-0 run by St. Joseph's over the final 1:49. Trailing 75-70 at that point, the Golden Eagles' Patrick Eagen (nine points - all on 3-pt. FG) buried a trifecta to start the run to slice the KP lead to two points. After the Mariners missed a pair of back-to-back lay-ups, SJC's Steven Drury stole the ball with 1:19 left on the clock and called time-out.
Following the break, Drury buried a right-side jumper to knot the score at 75-all with 52 seconds left. Next time down the floor, Eagen made another steal with 36.4 second left before the Golden Eagles called their final time-out. With Ryan Schneider trapped inside the 3-point arc on the right side of the court, he threw a cross-court pass to Baumbach to beat the shot clock. Kings Point's full-length inbounds of the ball was knocked away to end the game.
St. Joseph's held its largest lead of the first half at 26-20 with 6:44 to go. But the Mariners then went on a 23-8 run over the next 5:37, and was up by a 43-34 score after a pair of free throws by junior tri-captain Josh Buck. With the half was winding down, Buck (team-best 21 points and eight rebounds) buried a "3-ball" from the right elbow at the buzzer, and the Mariners led 46-38 at halftime.
The Mariners went up by double-digits at 52-42 less than two minutes into the second stanza behind a conventional 3-point play from senior tri-captain Gabe Whitney. But a resilient Golden Eagles squad ripped off a 17-3 run, and on a jumper by Steven Drury with 10:11 to go in the game, SJC suddenly held a 59-55 lead.
In this game of runs, Kings Point had an answer, outscoring the Golden Eagles 12-4 over a 3:12 span and held a 69-65 lead. Seven of the Blue and Gray's points during that stretch came from freshman Jonathan Fassnacht, who came off the bench to score a season-high 12 points. The last five points of the stretch came on his conventional 3-point play off a terrific look from sophomore point guard Paul Tricarico, before the run ended when Fassnacht slammed home a fast-break dunk following a Tricarico "home-run" pass. The teams traded baskets over the next three minutes, setting the stage for the dramatic ending.
Tricarico handed out a game-high seven assists, while Whitney joined Buck and Fassnacht in double-figures with 13 points. Whitney, like Buck, pulled down eight rebounds - a game-high.
Head coach Chris Carideo's Mariners will try to get back in the win column Monday night (Feb. 2), when they play host to York (N.Y.) College at 7 p.m. in Liebertz Gymnasium.
St. Joseph's (L.I.) vs U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 1/31/04 4:30 p.m. at Kings Point, N.Y. - Liebertz Gymnasium At Kings Point, N.Y. - Liebertz Gymnasium ST. JOSEPH'S (L.I.) 77, U.S. MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY 75 ST. JOSEPH'S (L.I.) (8-10, 5-4) Drury, Steven 7-19 8-9 25; Trava, Tim 4-11 3-4 13; Schneider, Ryan 3-6 2-2 10; Eagen, Patrick 3-7 0-0 9; Garcia, Will 2-5 3-5 7; Massa, Mike 1-1 2-2 4; Hannsgen, Chris 1-2 1-1 3; Kuftack, Dan 1-2 0-0 2; Henderson, Richard 1-3 0-0 2; Baumbach, Ryan 1-2 0-0 2. Totals 24-58 19-23 77. U.S. MERCHANT MARINE ACADEMY (9-9, 4-4) Buck, Josh 7-11 4-4 21; Whitney, Gabe 2-6 9-13 13; Fassnacht, Jonathan 4-8 3-3 12; Hart, Joe 2-10 4-4 9; Medvetz, Mark 3-5 0-0 8; Tricarico, Paul 1-3 2-4 4; Wyatte, Zach 1-3 2-4 4; DeCarlo, Lou 1-1 0-0 2; Holm, Sky 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 21-48 26-34 75. St. Joseph's (L.I.)........... 38 39 - 77 U.S. Merchant Marine Academy.. 46 29 - 75 3-point goals-St. Joseph's (L.I.) 10-31 (Eagen, Patrick 3-7; Drury, Steven 3-10; Schneider, Ryan 2-4; Trava, Tim 2-8; Henderson, Richard 0-1; Hannsgen, Chris 0-1), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 7-18 (Buck, Josh 3-5; Medvetz, Mark 2-3; Hart, Joe 1-6; Fassnacht, Jonathan 1-4). Fouled out--St. Joseph's (L.I.)-Garcia, Will, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy-None. Rebounds-St. Joseph's (L.I.) 24 (Drury, Steven 5), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 38 (Buck, Josh 8; Whitney, Gabe 8). Assists-St. Joseph's (L.I.) 11 (Trava, Tim 3; Schneider, Ryan 3), U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 14 (Tricarico, Paul 7). Total fouls-St. Joseph's (L.I.) 24, U.S. Merchant Marine Academy 23. A-314 Skyline Conference contest - KP loses 38-game conf. home winning streak Garcia fouls out: 2:43 left in 2nd SJC's Baumbach hits 10-foot jumper with 1.4 sec. left to win game KP - First five-game losing streak since '95-96