COBLESKILL MEN HEAD TO POST SEASON BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
For the thirteenth consecutive season the SUNY Cobleskill men’s basketball program will head towards the post season. As the number two seed the Fighting Tigers will meet the winner of the Jefferson Community College/ Hudson Valley Community College sub-regional game on Friday March 4th in the quarterfinal round of the 2005 NJCAA Region III Division III Championships hosted by Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica, NY. The Fighting Tigers are currently ranked second in the latest NJCAA Division III National Poll with a 26-4 overall record. This season marked the eleventh consecutive twenty-win season for the Fighting Tigers the longest current streak of twenty-win seasons in the SUNY System.
Fighting Tiger Head Coach Kevin McCarthy remains very philosophical about the upcoming post season. “Given the level of success that our program has had over my thirteen years here; the bar has been set very high. I don’t want to say that by not winning a regional title that this will be considered an unsuccessful season; but it will not have the same impact, that finishing 29-4 with a regional title will have for our fans. I think our kids are a little upset by the seeding given that we are ranked number two in the country. But at this time of the year you can’t worry about those things and you just have to go out and play basketball.”
A trademark during Coach McCarthy’s time leading the Fighting Tigers has been the team’s defense and this season has been no exception. Cobleskill leads the nation defensively in points allowed per game giving opponents only 54.8 points per contest. The Fighting Tigers also rank nineteenth in the nation in scoring at 74.3 points per game. Cobleskill also ranks tenth nationally in field goal shooting at 46.8% from the floor.
Individually the Fighting Tigers are led by senior forward Daniel Pierre, Brooklyn, NY, The High School of Art & Design, who is ranked third in the nation in rebounding averaging 13.7 per game to go with 13.9 points per game on a 57.1% shooting percentage. Senior guard Jamael Lynch, Brooklyn, NY, Bishop Laughlin High School, has also put in a stellar season for Cobleskill averaging 12.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 2.1 steals per game shooting 46.8% from the field including 43.9% from three-point range and 72.1 from the free throw line. Off the bench, freshman forward Abar Miller, Albany, NY, Redemption Christian Academy, has proved to be valuable averaging 12.4 points per and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 50.6 % from the floor, 76.6% from the free throw line and 44.8% from three point range. Cobleskill also receives solid play from freshman swingman Michael Lawrence, Newburgh, NY, Newburgh Free Academy, with 8.5 points, 3.0 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game and from senior center Scotty Frater, Poughkeepsie, NY, Spackenkill High School, who averages 5.6 points and 7.6 rebounds per game.
The Fighting Tigers number two national ranking in the NJCAA’s final Division III National Poll represents the program’s best final end-of-the-year ranking. Under Head Coach Kevin McCarthy, Cobleskill has posted a 288-101 overall record.
