Men's Basketball Season Preview

11/06/2008

Men's Basketball Season Preview

Bronxville, NY - The Concordia College men's basketball team is set to begin their 2008-2009 season and will be looking to again qualify for the East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament.

The Clippers will be returning 2 starters and 9 letter winners from last season's team that finished 12-17 overall and earned the No. 6 seed in the East Coast Conference Men's Basketball Tournament. The Clippers upset No. 3 seed NYIT in the quarter-finals 67-62 before falling to No. 2 seed Adelphi University 66-62 in the semi-finals.

Leading the way will be junior guard Kenny Gaskins III (Bronx, NY), who averaged 9.2 points per game and 5.1 rebounds per game. Gaskins also averaged 4.0 assists per game. Sophomore William Eason (Springfield, MA) will once again help anchor the defense for the Clippers. Eason was one of the best shot blockers in the conference last season and averaged 1.3 blocks per game. Eason also scored 6.5 points per game and pulled down a team high 5.7 rebounds per game. The Clippers will also benefit from junior Troy Young (Largo, MD) and senior Dan Cunningham (Ulster Park, NY) who combined for 14.9 points per game and 7.6 rebounds per game.

Joining the Clippers front line this season will be freshman Daniel Olsen (Stafford, CT) at 7'-0" tall and freshman Jimmy Sayegh (Scarsdale, NY) at 6'-9" tall. Senior Alphonso DuHart (Hillside, NJ) will be rejoining the team this season and will give the Clippers some depth at forward along with junior Williamson Egwu (Jamaica Queens, NY) and brothers Alban Shala (Yorktown Heights, NY) and Jetmir Shala (Yorktown Heights, NY).

Concordia also bolstered their backcourt for this season. Sophomores Dustin Priest (Kingston, NY), Nikko Callender (Baldwin, NY) and Sean Walker (Bridgeport, CT) all saw significant action as freshmen last year. Junior Jaime Rivera (San Juan, Puerto Rico) and sophomore Samuel Batista (Carolina, Puerto Rico) will be joining the backcourt as well this season.

The Clippers will open the 2008-2009 regular season at the Adelphi University Tip-Off Classic in Garden City, NY on Saturday, November 15th against the Chargers of Dominican College. Concordia will play the following day against the Post University Eagles in the tournament finale.  Other non-conference games on the schedule this season include trips to Carolina, Puerto Rico and Winter Park, FL. The Clippers will play a back-to-back match-up on the road with a pair on Northeast-10 schools, Stonehill College and Bentley College in December. The Clippers will also play Division I and Ivy League member Princeton University on January 25th in Princeton, NJ. On February 26th, the Clippers will host their only non-conference game against Saint Michael's College at the Meyer Athletic Center.

The season will begin on Friday, November 7th in an exhibition game against the Division I Rams of Fordham University in Bronx, NY. The action begins at 7:00 PM.