FIGHTING TIGER MEN’S BASKETBALL LEAVES SCC ROYALS BLUE 80-51

The SUNY Cobleskill men’s basketball team left the visiting Royals of Schenectady Community College feeling blue on Saturday dominating the first half play by a 42-14 margin on their way to an 80-51 victory in Mountain Valley Conference play. The victory improves the Fighting Tigers overall record to 17-3 on the season with a 7-2 mark in conference play.

“We put the game away in the first half which gave us a chance to give extended minutes to some of our guys who haven’t had a lot of opportunities to play lately,” said Fighting Tiger Head Coach Kevin McCarthy. “In the first half our defense basically dominated their offense and created a significant number of easy opportunities in transition for us. We also did a very good job passing the basketball today and being unselfish which is nice to see from a coaching perspective.”

Freshman guard Nyquan Bellamy, Poughkeepsie, NY, Poughkeepsie High School, led all scorers in the contest with 19 points on the afternoon shredding the Royals zone defense with five three-point field goals on the afternoon.

The Fighting Tiger starters made strong contributions to the victory as senior forward Stanley Francois, Valley Cottage, NY, Suffern High School, filling the stat columns with nine points, eight rebounds, four steals and three assists, senior point guard Harley Fuller, Gloversville, NY, Broadalbin-Perth High School, passed out 10 assists to go with three points and four rebounds and senior guard Darryl Burns Jr., Brooklyn, NY, High School of Art & Design, who scored seven points, passed out three assists and pulled down three rebounds.

The Cobleskill bench was also effective as senior center/forward Jude Franck, Spring Valley, NY, Ramapo High School, scored a season high of nine points to go with three rebounds and a pair of blocked shots, senior swingman Brennan McCarthy, Cobleskill, NY, Cobleskill-Richmondville High School, scored seven points, passed out three assists and pulled down four rebounds, senior swingman Brian Leadbetter, Schenectady, NY, Schenectady High School, scored eight points and freshman center Victor Lajuljojuraj, Yorktown Heights, Lakeland High School, scored six points and had four rebounds.

The Fighting Tigers will return to action on Tuesday February 5th when they host Mountain Valley rival Mohawk Valley Community College as part of a men’s/women’s doubleheader with tip-off scheduled for 7:00 PM.