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| Brandon Caruthers earned MVP
honors at the Wendy’s College Classic
Tournament. Brockport athletics photo |
Despite beginning its season on Nov. 23, the Brockport State men’s basketball team has yet to play a home game. The Golden Eagles won’t play a home game in December. In fact, it won’t be until Jan. 14 until the lights come on in the Jim and John Vlogianitis Gymnasium.
Halfway through the 10-game road trip, though, Brockport stands at 4-1. The record includes its first victory at the Wendy’s College Classic Tournament since 2001 and a season opening win at St. Lawrence. The Golden Eagles’ sole loss this season came at the hands of No. 25 SUNY-Purchase in double overtime.
With the Wendy’s tournament at the beginning of the year and the Medaille Invitational in Buffalo coming up on Dec. 30, coach Greg Dunne said the team doesn’t have much choice but to get used to playing road games early on. The St. Lawrence matchup alternates home courts each season and Dunne said the game at Purchase was scheduled purposely so his players from the New York City area would have a chance to play in front of their families.
“We kind of have to have that mentality of being road warriors or it would have potentially been a really tough start for us,” Dunne said. “Hopefully, if we’re able to get through this stretch of being on the road, we could go into our home schedule and our league schedule feeling a little more comfortable and also feeling more hungry to actually play at home.”
When the team does get home, its fans will see seniors John Ivy and Brandon Caruthers, who Dunne said make up one of the top backcourt tandems in the country. Caruthers, who debuted last season for the Golden Eagles after transferring to Brockport from Division II Oklahoma Panhandle State, earned tournament MVP honors at the Wendy’s Classic with 36 points over the course of the three games.
The strong start has Brockport looking like it can improve on its 15-11 season of a year ago, which culminated in a first round loss to Oswego in the SUNYAC tournament. This year, with a core of seven seniors and a group of seven strong freshmen, Caruthers said the team is poised to make a run while building for the future.
“I love our recruitment class,” Caruthers said. “They came in and are all willing to get better. That’s what I like the most. Nobody’s big headed and nobody’s coming in doing more than they’re supposed to.”
Dunne said so far three of the team’s seven freshmen are receiving significant minutes. Early-season highlights have come from the brilliant guard play of 5-7 Aaron White, who filled in at times for both Ivy and Caruthers during the Wendy’s tournament.
In the tournament’s second game against St. John Fisher, Caruthers left with an injury in the first minute of the second half. Dunne said White filled in seamlessly, as evidenced by the freshman’s seven points and one steal in 22 minutes of play. In the championship game against Roberts Wesleyan, Ivy picked up two early fouls and White once again filled in with 13 points and two steals.
“Having that large group of seniors and not having a big junior and sophomore class, we needed to have the biggest and best class we’ve had in our tenure,” Dunne said. “I needed to know that we were going into next year with guys with experience and not all freshmen.”
The victory at the Wendy’s Classic wasn’t just a milestone for the program and a showcase for the team’s talent, though. The championship game was also Dunne’s 100th victory at the helm of the Golden Eagles, a fact that even surprised him.
“Someone told me at our women’s game earlier in the day that I was going for my hundredth and I didn’t have a clue,” he said. “To be honest I didn’t know I was in the 90s. The fact that we won in the Wendy’s final, when I’m an old man I’ll be looking back at it knowing it was a special day.”
Hawks lend a hand
In November, the Hilbert men’s team hosts a tip-off tournament on its Hamburg, N.Y., campus, just outside of Buffalo. This year’s tournament took place on Nov. 15 and 16, with Thanksgiving still two weeks away.
But, the team was looking ahead to December, and with the proceeds raised by the tournament, the squad’s Hawks Against Hunger program was able to donate enough funds to provide 63 meals for people in need in Buffalo.
Because the school lies on the outskirts of the city, coach Rob deGrandpre said he wanted to get his players involved in helping out the community at large. He had heard of the Buffalo City Mission, an organization that aids the homeless in Buffalo, through a former assistant coach who had volunteered with the program.
deGrandpre said that each donation of $1.98 can provide a meal and especially around the holiday season, this was a cause the whole team could support.
“It’s not a lot that we do and I know they’re appreciative of the funding that comes in,” he said. “In the future we want to draw more fans to the game and start the process earlier.”
New England’s finest
We are three weeks into the season and the NESCAC still boasts four undefeated women’s teams. The only one of the four off the top 25 list is Bowdoin, which stands at 8-0 and has a Dec. 11 game against Maine-Farmington before it reaches its December break.
The Bears are coming off a 76-41 blowout against Worcester State in which senior guard Kirsten Prue set a school record with 14 assists. The previous record of 13 had stood since 1989. The Polar Bears begin conference play on Jan. 10 against Connecticut College and if they keep playing like this, look for them to crack the top-25 very soon.
No. 4 Amherst has been dominant all season, on its way to 7-0. The Lord Jeffs have won each of their games by double digit margins, with its closest call coming on Nov. 21 in a 63-52 win over Skidmore. Megan Robertson is leading the squad, averaging 13.3 points per game and 9 rebounds per game. Amherst will face a tough test against 5-2 Bridgewater State on Dec. 12, before it takes its holiday break.
No. 12 Williams had an impressive win on its way to 8-0, with a 53-46 win over 7-2 Wesleyan. Ellen Cook led the way for the Ephs with 14 points against the Cardinals. Cook was instrumental in crunch time, going 7-8 from the free throw line.
No. 8 Tufts stands at 8-0 and will return to the court when it travels to Hartwick on Dec. 30. In addition to averaging 9.8 points per game, 6-2 freshman Michela North is also third in the conference, averaging 9.3 rebounds per game.
Bombers are tops in NY
The Ithaca College women’s team has jumped out to a 5-1 start, thanks in large part to senior guard Mary Kate Tierney. Tierney leads the No. 18 Bombers with an average of 15 points per game, but has also contributed on the glass with an average of seven rebounds per game. She also registered 11 steals this season, tying her for the team lead with senior forward Jenn Escobibo.
Ithaca’s biggest win thus far is its 10-point victory over 6-2 Cortland State on Dec. 3. The one blemish on the Bombers’ schedule was in its toughest test, a road loss at Amherst.
Upset alert
The 6-3 Emerson men’s team turned some heads on Dec. 7 when it took down the then No. 1 ranked Amherst Lord Jeffs. The Lions sharp shooting on offense led to the 90-79 upset, which saw contributions from throughout the roster.
Sophomore guard Michael Thorpe led the way with 21 points and was one of five Emerson players to score in double digits. Junior forward Austin Pinckney contributed off the bench with 13 points and seven rebounds and senior guard Jon Goldberg registered a double-double with 14 points and 13 rebounds.
The loss knocked the previously top-ranked Lord Jeffs down to No. 7 in the top 25 poll.
Contact me
Please feel free to send me any feature ideas, milestones or interesting trends from the east and northeast to cory.francer@d3sports.com. Thank you for reading my first few columns for the site and I hope everyone enjoys the upcoming holidays.
