Newburgh, N.Y. – Senior Gerard Nocera (Holmdel, N.J.) hit a three-pointer to tie the score at 66-66 with 38 seconds left and classmate Andrew Holmes (Niskayuna, N.Y.) hit two free-throws with seven seconds left that proved to be the difference in an important 68-66 Skyline Conference win over St. Joseph's-Brooklyn. Nocera led three players in double-figures with 18 points in the win.
 
The Knights led by as many as three points twice in the opening period on Saturday, getting a Nocera lay-in to pull in front 10-7 and a Paul Sienke (Washington, D.C.) conversion to move in front 12-9 with 11:04 left before halftime.
 
St. Joseph's evened the score at 12-12 on a Stephane Etheart bucket and used a 9-2 spurt late in the half to grab a 30-23 lead on a pair of Dimitri Sirakis free-throws with 15 seconds left in the half. The Knights stopped the run with a Nocera triple at the horn to cut the halftime deficit to 30-26.
 
Nocera led all players at halftime with 10 points and along with Holmes combined for four of the team's five first half three-pointers. The Knights shot just 26.5-percent prior to halftime, but held the visiting Bears to a 32.3-percent effort.
 
Coming out of the break, the Bears spread their lead to eight points twice in the first three minutes of the second frame. St. Joseph's maintained the lead in the game until the 8:22 mark of the half, when Daniel Wolff (Holtsville, N.Y.) converted a lay-in to give the Knights a 52-51 lead.
 
Including the Wolff conversion, the lead changed hands nine times the remainder of the game. The Bears opened a three-point advantage on a three-point play from Etheart with 94 seconds left in regulation and after each team had an empty possession, Nocera knotted the score with a triple, and got fouled, from the left corner with 38 seconds left.  
 
After misfiring on the free-throw, the Bears had two looks following an offensive rebound, but after a miss and foul, Holmes stepped to the line and broke the tie with free-throws. Alec Willis went to the line for the Bears after a foul and misfired on the first free-throw, but Kevan Meiner grabbed the offensive rebound and a shot at the horn came up short, securing the win for the Knights.
 
After struggling from the floor it he first half, Mount Saint Mary shot an efficient 48.4-percent in the second half and outscored St. Joseph's 9-2 from the free-throw line. The Knights turned the Bears over nine times after halftime and overcame a 9-4 deficit in offensive rebounding after the break.
 
Nocera finished the game 5-for-16 with half of the team's eight triples and added four rebounds and a steal. Holmes and McDine each scored 12 points for the Knights, with Holmes closing out a strong day with seven rebounds, a block and a pair of steals.
 
Wolff paced the Knights with three assists in the game and chipped in seven points and a team-high nine rebounds on Saturday. Connor Bacci (Bayside, N.Y.) secured eight boards for the Mount and handed out three assists.
 
St. Joseph's was led by a game-high 21 points from Stephane Etheart, while Sebastian Etheart grabbed a game-high 15 rebounds. Alec Willis led all players with six assists, chipping in with six points and four rebounds.
 
Mount Saint Mary rounded out the game shooting 36.9-percent overall and went 8-for-29 from three-point range. The Knights finished with a 14-4 advantage in points off of turnovers at the Mount bench outscored the Bears' bench 15-7.
 
At 8-10 overall and 8-5 in Skyline Conference play, the Knights return to action on January 30 for a Skyline Conference road contest at Yeshiva. Tip-off with the Maccabees is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.