Morristown, NJ – The Patriots suffered their fifth loss of the season to the College of St. Elizabeth, 82-72. With the loss, the Patriots move to 7-5 on the season.
Freshman
Matthew Altamirano led the Patriots with 22 points, followed by
Aaron Hill with 13 points and 10 rebounds, his first double-double of the season.
Owen Bradford tallied 12 points, while both
Derian Bradford and
Bennie Howard Jr. dished out 10 points.
"I am simultaneously very frustrated and very encouraged," head coach
DJ Damazo shared. "St. Elizabeth is currently at the top of the CSAC and we played extremely well against them for about 36 minutes of the game. We just didn't make enough plays down the stretch and had too many mental errors throughout the game to beat a team of that caliber."
The game began in the Eagles favor as they quickly gathered a 6-0 lead in the first two minutes. The Patriots found themselves on the board with a Derain Bradford layup, eventually tying the game, 10-10 with 11:58 remaining in the first-half. With an even game at hand, the Patriots developed a comfortable lead at 9:32, going up by a game-high 14 points. The Eagles were able to slowly battle their way back, cutting the Patriots lead to 5 with 2:17 on the clock. Valley Forge closed out the half on an 8-4 run to claim a 10-point benefit.
The Patriots attempted to keep their advantage, but the Eagles slowly pried their way in, fighting for the lead and now allowing the Patriots to gather more than an 11-point gain. With Valley Forge struggling to find their offensive rhythm, St. Elizabeth executed on the Patriots missed shots to tie the contest 64-64 with 4:31 remaining. After evening out the game, the Eagles locked down their defense and went on an 18-8 rally to claim the 82-72 win.
St. Elizabeth dished out 20 points off of Patriots turnovers, and 46 points in the paint alone.
As a unit, Valley Forge hit 29-71 from the field (40.8%), 7-31 from behind the arc (22.6%), and 7-10 from the line (70%).
The Patriots will be back in action at home as they host the Crusaders of Christendom College on Friday, January 17
th for a 6 p.m. tipoff.