Lady Spartans Find the Net

Sloper sparks Lady Spartans

The St. Thomas Aquinas College women’s basketball team climbed to the .500 level after defeating Bridgeport, 57-55, at Aquinas Hall in Sparkill.

Senior forward Brian Sloper of Williston Park led the way with a season-high 28 points, including a clutch three-pointer, as STAC improved to 9-9 all told and 4-4 in the East Coast Conference.

Bridgeport, which lost its third straight, fell to 5-13, 3-5.

Junior guard Bianca Kowgios of Yonkers added six points, four assists and three steals for STAC.

The Lady Spartans play five of their next seven games on the road, starting on Saturday (Jan. 28) when they travel to our nation’s capital l to face the University of the District of Columbia in a 1 p.m. start. This should be a stern challenge as the host Firebirds are 15-3 all told, and 6-2 in the conference.

STAC then squares off at Queens College at 5 p.m. on Feb. 1 before returning home on Feb. 4 to take on Molloy in a 1 p.m. matinee.

All of the women’s contests are the front end of double-headers with the men’s squads.

Close but no cigar

Before heading to Washington, DC, the men’s basketball team at St. Thomas Aquinas College dropped a closely fought battle against visiting Bridgeport, 62-55.

Junior guard James Ockimey of Uniondale scored 11 points, and sophomore forward Omar Kellman had 10 to go along with a game-high nine rebounds as the Spartans fell to 7-10 overall and 3-5 in the East Coast Conference.

The Spartans, who take to the road for six of their next eight games, will be in the nation’s capital on Saturday (Jan. 28) to meet the University of the District of Columbia at 3 p.m.

The host Firebirds are an impressive 15-3 (6-2 in the conference) under head coach Jeff Ruland, a former NBA player who starred at Iona College under the late Jim Valvano.

Ruland, who was a second-round draft choice and later returned to his alma mater where he coached the Gaels for nine seasons, is assisted by Terrell Stokes, a former three-year point guard at Maryland, and one-time Iona College teammate and captain Anthony Iati.

The women’s teams will meet at 1 p.m.        

Walker, Bonnies on national TV

The St. Bonaventure University women’s basketball team, coming off a 68-61 victory over Saint Joseph’s, meets La Salle on Saturday at Tom Gola Arena in Philadelphia in a game that will be shown nationally on CBS Sports Network. Tip-off is 1 p.m.

Senior guard Nadia Duncan of Mount Vernon is averaging 8.5 points and 4.2 rebounds for the host Explorers (9-11, 3-2 Atlantic 10). Duncan also has 21 assists and 12 steals.

In the win over Saint Joseph’s (13-6, 3-2 A-10), junior Alaina Walker of Pomona had a season-high-tying 11 rebounds, and finished just shy of a double-double with eight points for the Bonnies (19-2, 6-0 A-10).

Following an 11-rebound effort at Charlotte, it was the first time in her career that the Albertus Magnus graduate has had back-to-back double-digit performances in rebounding. 

McManus breaks the ice

The Maritime College hockey team, which is flush in the face after two impressive victories, returns to action on Saturday night (Jan. 28) against Raritan at the Bridgewater (NJ) Sports and Ice Rink.

The first puck is set to drop at 9:25 p.m.

The Privateers improved to a very-fine 11-4 on the season after routing the Stevens Ducks, 9-3, at Prudential Center in Newark, NJ, and then defeating archrival Kings College, 5-2, at Parkwood Ice Rink in Great Neck.

Junior defenseman James McManus of Pearl River broke a 2-2 deadlock against Kings, scoring with a little less than 10 minutes left to play on assists from Nick Galli of Staten Island and Josh Hempel of Katy, TX.

Spartans run to top-10 ranking

The ever-improving St. Thomas Aquinas College men’s track

and field team has climbed to a ninth-place ranking in the NCAA Division II East Region. 

The Lady Spartans are ranked 13th.

Leading the men’s squad is junior Mike Abelard of Spring Valley. The Ramapo High grad is ranked 11th in the country in Division II, and third in the region in the 200-meter with a time of 21.84. 

Sophomore George Erazo of North Babylon is ranked 16th in the country, and eighth in the region in the 400 in a time of 48.80.  Both individuals have provisionally qualified for Division II Indoor Nationals.          

The Spartans’ 4x400 meter relay of Abelard, Erazo, freshman Alex Andre of Garnerville and sophomore Frankie Colon of Suffern is ranked third in the region with a time of 3:25.08. 

The distance medley relay (DMR) team of Andre, Erazo, sophomore Mike Kraus of River Vale, NJ, and sophomore Matt Buell of Staten Island is ranked third in the region as well. 

Colon is also ranked third in the region with a long jump of 42 feet 6 inches.

The Lady Spartans are led by sophomore Keeley Bateman of Pearl River, who is ranked fourth in the region in the 800 with a time of 2:20.82.          

The DMR team of Bateman, Ashley Stokkeland of Warwick, Catherine Sandkuhl of North Babylon, and Chelsea Klinger of Owego is ranked fourth in the region.

STAC’s road gets tougher today (Jan. 27) and Saturday (Jan. 28) in Boston at the Terrier Classic, where the Spartans will compete not only against the top teams in the East Region but some of the top teams in Divisions I, II, and III as well.

Postponed        

The Nyack College men’s and women’s basketball games at Goldey-Beacom College in Wilmington, DE, were postponed on Jan. 21 due to bad weather conditions.

The Warriors will now travel to Goldey-Beacom on Feb. 6, with the men playing at 7 p.m. to cap a twin-bill that includes a women’s game at 5 p.m.

Red Dragons roar, soar

SUNY Cortland track and field athletes turned in eight ECAC Championship qualifying performances at the Cornell University Upstate Challenge in Ithaca.

The Red Dragons’ women’s team finished sixth in the team standings that included Division I schools Cornell, Buffalo, Syracuse and Binghamton.

Junior Amber Stephens of Stony Point, a North Rockland graduate, placed fifth in the triple jump at 36-feet ¾ inches.

In the men’s field, Cornell won with 246 points, followed by the University of Buffalo, Syracuse, Cortland, Binghamton and Ithaca.

Junior Andrew Greenberg of Suffern finished sixth in the 500-meter dash in 1:10.54

The Red Dragons will be back in action on Saturday (Jan. 28) on two fronts: at the Colgate Class of ’32 Invitational in Hamilton at 11 a.m., and as host to the Cortland Winter Invitational.

Pucci, Utica post well-earned deadlock

Rearguard Samantha Pucci of Pearl River and the host Utica College women’s hockey team overcame a 3-0 deficit to earn a 4-4 draw with Potsdam State in ECAC Women’s West Conference action.

It was the Pioneers’ second tie in as many days against the Bears (7-7-3).

Utica (6-8-2) is 3-2-2 in its last seven games headed into a key weekend set at home against Neumann University (4-9-2).

Saturday’s game is scheduled for 7 p.m., while Sunday’s contest starts at 3 p.m.

Fields grapples with success

Freshman Paul Fields of Clarkstown was SUNY Cortland’s best finisher in the non-championship “B” bracket at the two-day State Collegiate Championships at Cornell University in Ithaca.

Fields, a freshman out of Clarkstown North HS, went 2-1 to finish second at 125 pounds.

The Red Dragons, 14-2 in dual meets, next compete at the Jamestown Open on Saturday (Jan. 28). First bout is set for 10 a.m.

Cortland finished sixth out of 15 schools in the team standings and was the top Division III college. Army won with 162.5 points, followed by Cornell (144.5), Columbia (135), Buffalo (117), Nassau Community College (102), Cortland (84.5), Hunter (63) and Ithaca (62.5) in the top eight. 

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The 'College Sports Notebook' is published each Friday. Please send items of interest—including local athletes competing at out-of-town colleges—to marcmaturo@aol.com.