Pressure gets to St. Viator

St. Viator coach Joe Majkowski was hoping for better results Friday as the unbeaten Lions traveled to Westchester to take on St. Joseph.

It seemed like the Chargers put on full-court pressure as the Lions disembarked from the bus in St.Viator's 55-45 loss in both teams' East Suburban Catholic Conference opener.

"Their defense was outstanding," said Majkowski the 2-3, 1-0 Chargers. "They pressured the ball and when we thought we could cut to the basket for some back doors, they had a player there."

The Lions (4-1, 0-1) were able to tie the score at 13 with 6:29 left in the half before St.Joseph went on a 12-2 run to finish the quarter and lead 25-15.

A poor start to the third quarter saw St. Joseph take advantage of 4 St. Viator turnovers which turned into 7 points and led 36-17 with 4:33 left in the frame.

The closest St. Viator got was 44-35 midway through the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer from Alan Aboona. The Chargers answered with an 8-1 run to put the game away.

"We didn't handle the pressure very well," said Richard McLoughlin who led the Lions with 17 points and 9 rebounds. "We seemed to rush ourselves at times."

"We wanted to pressure them early," said St. Joseph coach Gene Pingatore. "I knew they had good shooters so we had to stay on them."

Wayne Simon and Brandon Carr both scored 13 points for the Chargers, who forced 16 turnovers.

"We were inconsistent with our offense," said Majkowski. "You have to be consistent to beat a team like them."