FIGHTING TIGERS MEN’S BASKETBALL TAMES HOLYOKE COUGARS 76-31

The SUNY Cobleskill men’s basketball team traveled to the Massachusetts last night to put on a defensive clinic for Holyoke Community College on the Cougars home court in Holyoke, MA last night holding their hosts to only nine first half points on their way to a 76-31 victory. The win improves the Fighting Tigers overall record to 10-2 on the season.

Entering the contest ranked second in the NJCAA in Team Defense, allowing only 57.3 points per game, the Fighting Tigers made things extremely difficult for the Cougar’s offense. Cobleskill held Holyoke to only 11-of-35 from the field, 31.4%, and forced their hosts into 29 turnovers on the evening.

“We’ve always taken great pride in the way that we play defense and I’m told that this is the fewest points that we’ve ever allowed during my time here at Cobleskill,” said Fighting Tiger Head Coach Kevin McCarthy. “To be one of the contenders in our region and our conference, you have to be able to defend. Tonight I think we did some very good things on the defensive end of the floor but now we’ve go games against Delhi on the road Thursday night and Saturday against North Country at home to get ready for before we go on break.”

On offensive senior guard Darryl Burns Jr., Brooklyn, NY, Art & Design High School, scored 14 points and passed out two assists to go with a career high of seven steals on defense while freshman swingman Zaire Thomas, Ossining, NY, Ossining High School, added 13 points on the night. Senior center Kyle Mitchell, Hadley, NY, Hadley-Luzerne High School, was also active in the contest scoring a career high of 11 points, grabbing five rebounds and blocking two shots.

Senior point guard Harley Fuller, Gloversville, NY, Broadalbin-Perth High School, continued to run the Cobleskill attack effectively with seven points and five assists complimented by senior forward Stanley Francois, Suffern, NY, Suffern High School, who scored eight points and took down four rebounds and senior power forward Anthony Armstead, Schenectady, NY, Schenectady High School, who scored eight points and grabbed seven rebounds on the night.

The Fighting Tigers return to action on Thursday December 13th when they travel to Delhi, NY to meet the Broncos of SUNY Delhi in Mountain Valley Conference action with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 PM.