The Union College men's basketball team is a heavy favorite to win this weekend's 20th Annual Sig Makofski/Union Invitational. The 7-1 Dutchmen, who head into the event riding the crest of a seven-game win streak, play the 1-7 Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts Trailblazers in Friday night's 8 p.m. The tournament will tip-off on Friday night when Brockport State and Clark University open the event in the 6 o'clock contest. Saturday's 3 p.m. championship game will be preceded by the 1 p.m. consolation contest.
“I am pleased to be 7-1 with only two home games in our first eight outings,” said eighth-year head coach Bob Montana, who has led the Dutchmen to winning seasons each of the last five years. “We have had an opportunity to get some wins on the road against teams with good records, which is very important. Winning at Christopher Newport to capture the championship of their tournament was certainly a nice victory for us. They had won 65 of 68 games at home since they had opened their facility. ”
The Dutchmen, who have been to the finals 18 times since their invitational began in 1985, are looking for their sixth title and their first-ever back-to-back championships. Union, which defeated St. Joseph's, 80-62, last year, also captured titles in 1999, 1994, 1987, and in 1985. The 1998 tournament was a round robin even that did not crown a champion. The Dutchmen have been out of the title hunt only once, finishing third in 1986.
Union's win streak includes a pair of victories in last week's Land of Magic Classic in Daytona Beach, Florida. The Dutchmen defeated Ursinus, 86-66, and then defeated Mt. St. Mary, 80-72. Montana's squad opened the 2004 portion of its schedule on Monday by defeating homestanding Plattsburgh, 59-48. Sophomore guard John Cagianello scored 17 points, came up with five steals and pulled down seven rebounds to lead the Dutchmen. Cagianello, who earlier on Monday picked up his second Upstate College Athletic Conference “Guard of the Week” award of the season, was the UCAA's “Rookie of the Year” last season. The Garnet's only loss was a season-opening 55-48 loss at Williams College, which won the 2002-03 national championship. Union trailed by just one with under a minute to play before the Ephs converted from the free throw line.
The Dutchmen, who lost four starters from the 2001-02 NCAA team that posted an overall record of 21-8, finished 17-12 last year and missed participating in their second consecutive NCAA tournament by losing at Hamilton, 74-70, in the championship game of the UCAA postseason event. Union, which lost one starter from last year, is still a relatively young squad. Forwards, captain Imbrie Packard, and Ryan Frendulich are the lone seniors for this Union team which start sophomores Canginaello and Chris Murphy at the guard positions with sophomore Brian Scordato, junior Devon Bruce and Frendulich the starting forwards. Packard, sophomore forward Darcy Bonner, sophomore guard Jim Rahill, and junior guard T.J. Ramey have come off of the bench top play important roles in Union's early-season success.
“I cannot say enough about the leadership and versatility that Imbrie Packard, our senior captain, and Ryan Freundlich, our other senior and starting center, have brought to this team,” said Montana. “Both of them have done an outstanding job with their floor play, and the many intangibles that are necessary to achieve success.”
Cagianello leads the Dutchmen with his 18.4 average while Scordato (15.6) and Bruce (12.7) are the other double digit scorers who have helped the Garnet produce a 74.0 scoring average. Cagianello, a 6'3, 165-pounder from Wethersfield, Connecticut, has hit for double digits in his last seven games after opening the season with a nine-point performance against Williams. He netted a career-high 33 points in Union's win over Mt. St. Mary. Cagianello's previous high of 31 points came last January in an 80-72 UCAA victory over Hamilton.
Scordato leads the Dutchmen in both three-point field goals (21) and three-point percentage at 55.3% (21 of 38). Cagianello is second in both categories with 15 three-pointers and a percentage of 38.5% (15 of 39). The Dutchmen have connected on 70.0% of their free throws, hitting 77 of 110 attempts. Bonner, who has connected on 14 of 17 attempts (82.4%), Caginello (16 of 21, 76.2%), and Bruce (17 of 24, 70.8%) lead the squad.
Bruce is the Garnet's top rebounder with his 7.3 average and is closely followed by Scordato's 7.0 standard. Thus far the Dutchmen have out-rebounded the opposition by a 36.3 to 34.6 margin, an improvement overall the last several seasons in which Union has been on the short end of the rebounding statistics. Despite their overall advantage on the boards, Union is on the short end of a 71-58 margin on the offensive boards. Frendulich and Bruce each own 10 caroms.
Union enjoys a 112-87 assist advantage with Murphy (24), Scordato (22) and Packard (21) each averaging 3.0 or more helpers a game. The Dutchmen have also turned the ball over seven fewer times than the opposition and enjoy an 11.9 scoring margin advantage. Union's defense has held the opposition to a 38.0 overall field goal percentage.
“We have received key contributions from many players,” said Montana. “We've had different guys come off the bench to make key plays or big contributions, whatever was necessary, and that has been key to our success in the first seven games. Guys have been willing to fulfill whatever role was necessary to help us win, and that's all you can ask for as a coach.”
The Trailblazers's offense is led by junior guards Chet Columbus (18.0) and Robert Mitchell (17.9) and sophomore Thad Broughton (16.3). Mitchell, who is 6'3, leads the team with his 8.9 rebounding average. Montana had an opportunity to see the Trailblazers, who have been outscored by an 86.8 to 69.9 margin, play in the Christopher Newport Tournament. Massachusetts College, whose only win was a 90-73 victory over Nazarene College in the sixth game of the season, has not played since losing at Norwich, 62-59, on December 9.
Brockport, which takes a three-game win streak and a 3-2 record into Wednesday night's game at St. Lawrence, is led in scoring and rebounding by senior forwards Charlie Croff and Brandon Mills. Croff, who is 6'5 and 215 pounds, averages 22 points and 9.2 rebounds while the 6'7, 205-pound Mills averages 14.8 points and 6.6 boards.
Clark, which dropped a 91-84 decision to the Dutchmen in the 1999 title game, comes into the tournament with a 4-3 record after beating Scranton in last weekend's University of Scranton Tournament championship. The Cougars boast double digit scorers in 6'4 senior forward Trevor Walker (17.5), 5'10 senior guard Dave McNamara (17.2), 6'6 sophomore forward Tim Dutille (12.3) and 6'3 senior forward Brent Kenneway (11.8). Adam Miller, a 6'8 senior forward, has come off the bench to lead the Cougars with his 5.7 rebounding average. Walker and Dutille are next with average of 4.8 and 4.7, respectively. Clark is averaging 81.3 points while allowing 78.5. The Cougars enjoy a rebounding advantage of 37.0 to 34.5. Head coach Paul Phillips, who is in this 18th season, is two wins shy of his 300th career victory.
“The Makofski Tournament gives us an opportunity to play at home against some good teams,” said Montana. “Mass College is a young team that is very good off the dribble and shoots the three-point field goal very well as a team. SUNY Brockport and Clark University are two programs that have been able to go deep into the NCAA Tournament in recent years. Brockport is a veteran team that has been playing well, and Clark is blending some newcomers with returning players who have gotten to the Final 8 in the NCAA's. Both teams have played very good non-league schedules.
“I'm proud of the fact that Union has been able to sponsor a quality tournament for 20 years,” Montana continued. “This is a tournament that has brought many very good teams to our campus. The fact that the tourney honors Sig Makofski. one of Union's top basketball players and one of the top athletes in our College's history is very fitting. I expect the tourney games to be very competitive, providing spectators an exciting brand of basketball.”
Sig Makofski, a 1926 graduate who died in 1994, was inducted into the initial class of Union's Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002 and was the Dutchmen's first basketball player to achieve first-team All-American status and was also recognized for his abilities on the football field by being named as an honorable mention All-American. He played professional basketball with Kingston and Utica in the New York State League, and with the Patterson, New Jersey team in the old American Basketball League, which evolved into the National Basketball Association. Makofski was also a championship-caliber golfer, setting numerous records at local courses.
Makofski taught and coached at his alma mater, Schenectady High School, and then at Mont Pleasant High School, compiling a 26-year career basketball record of 461-35 (a winning percentage of .929). His high school teams produced six undefeated seasons and had winning streaks of 46, 42, 39, and 36 games. During one multi-year stretch, his teams won 98 of 100 games. Makofski also coached Mont Pleasant's football team to four undefeated seasons, finishing with a .700 winning percentage, and guided the Red Raiders' golf team to a pair of New York State championships while compiling an .820 winning percentage.
A former Schenectady City Councilman, Makofski had a plaque honoring his coaching accomplishments in the “High School” section of the old National Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusetts. Makofski was also among the five inductees to the Schenectady City School District Athletic Hall of Fame at their inaugural in September of 1998.
Parking for Union basketball games will be restricted to the parking areas in front of Memorial Fieldhouse via the Nott/Van Vranken entrance for the remainder of the season due to the construction of the Viniar Basketball Pavilion.