FIGHTING TIGER’S CLOSE SEMESTER WITH 73-61 ROAD DRUBBING OF NCCC

The SUNY Cobleskill men’s basketball team closed the 2006 portion of their schedule by traveling to Saranac Lake, NY on Saturday to post a 73-61 victory over the high scoring Saints of North Country Community College. The victory pushes the Fighting Tiger overall record to 12-2 on the season and drops North Country to 12-4 on the year. Going into the game Cobleskill had made a reappearance in the NJCAA Division III National Poll this week at the number nineteen position after a several week absence.

“I was very pleased with our defensive effort today given that we held a team that averages 86.5 points per game to only 29 points in the first half and really frustrated them the entire day,” said Fighting Tiger Head Coach Kevin McCarthy. “In the second half I thought that we really took control of the game with a very balanced inside/outside attack and basically did whatever we wanted to do from an offensive standpoint. This was a very convincing road win for us and I think it sends us into the break in a very good place to start from next semester.”

The Fighting Tigers pounded the interior of the Saints defense unmercifully in the second half as freshman power forward Anthony Armstead, Schenectady, NY, Schenectady High School, scored 18 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the contest and freshman forward Stanley Francois, Valley Cottage, NY, Suffern High School, added 17 points and 12 rebounds on the afternoon. Freshman center Vladimir Colas, Warwick, NY, Warwick Valley High School, also chipped in four points from inside the paint in the win.

From the outside freshman guard Jayson Taylor, Deer Park, NY, Ossining High School, scored a career high of 18 points to go with five assists to keep the home team’s defense scrabbling while freshman point guard Harley Fuller, Gloversville, NY, Broadalbin-Perth High School, tormented the Saints with a three point, 10 assist, three rebound, four steal performance. Freshman Ryan Greene, Richmondville, NY, Cobleskill-Richmondville High School, came off the bench to contribute five points and freshman guard Josh Young, Coram, NY, Longwood High School, added five points, four assists and three rebounds for the Fighting Tigers.

The Fighting Tigers will return to the hardwood on Tuesday January 16th when they host the Broncos of Delhi Tech in Mountain Valley Conference action beginning at 7:00 PM.

TIGER NOTES: With an overall record of 12-2 the Fighting Tigers have already surpassed their 2005-06 win total when they finished 11-19 under Interim Head Coach Mark Rybczyk. Stanley Francois has now posted six double/doubles in points and rebounds this season. Cobleskill entered the week ranked seventh nationally in points allowed per game at 62.1 per game and at the semester are currently allowing 60.4 points per game while scoring a healthy 74.4 per game. The Fighting Tigers are currently riding an 11 game winning streak heading into the holidays. Cobleskill’s impressive 12-2 overall record is even more substantial when one considers the fact that the team is 7-2 on the road and 5-0 at home. The Fighting Tigers are currently tied for first place in the Mountain Valley Conference with a 4-0 league record heading into the break.