This weekend, January 7 & 8, the Dutchmen will be in
search of its third consecutive Sig Makofski / Union College Basketball Invitational
championship. The event, which
celebrates its 21st year…and its first in the brand new Viniar Athletic
Center, had never had back-to-back
champions until the Garnet turned the trick last year with its 74-66 victory Clark. The Dutchmen won the 2003 crown by knocking
off top-ranked St. Joseph's of Maine,
80-62. Overall, Union
has brought home the first-place trophy six times in the event's first two
decades.
While the Dutchmen went into last year's event having won
seven in a row, the Garnet will not be the favored team this time around as
Wesleyan, Connecticut, comes into the event riding the crest of a six-game win
streak that its record at 7-3. The
Dutchmen broke a four-game losing streak on Monday night and improved their
record to 3-5 by defeating a very talented Plattsburgh
State quartet, 66-60. The return of the student body, which had
missed the first seven games while on the Holiday Recess, helped create the
largest, certainly most enthusiastic and vocal, crowd in the short history of
the Viniar (an estimated 350).
“I certainly was pleased with the win over Plattsburgh on Monday,” said head coach Bob Montana. “They (Plattsburgh) had been playing well, and provided us with an athletic team, that is a very good offensive rebounding team and provides good defensive pressure. some areas we have had problems with to date. I thought the kids responded well especially playing without one of our leading scorers, rebounders, and playmakers in Brian Scordato.”
“We have a group of kids that understand that we need to build a day at a time and Monday was certainly an effective day as was Tuesday's practice session,” Montana continued. “We just need to continue growing from a system standpoint as well as individually to continue developing into roles that will help this team win.”
Wesleyan and NESCAC rival Connecticut
College will open the Makofski tournament on Friday at 6 p.m. before the Dutchmen take on St. Joseph of Vermont
at 8. The consolation is set for
Saturday at 1 p.m. with the
championship scheduled to tip-off at 3. Conn
College comes into the event at 0-8
while St. Joseph, a NAIA team, is
2-5.
Three of Union's losses have come
at the hands of 8-1 Williams (which is ranked 12th in the latest
D3hoops.com poll), 7-2 Carnegie Mellon (which is off to its best start since
1994-95) and Division II Le Moyne.
“While we have played a good schedule we are disappointed that we
have not performed better to date, and while we knew a difficult start was
possible we had hoped to be “playing” better at this point,” said Montana. “Each season your team changes irregardless of the number of
players returning and therefore there are always adjustments in roles that have
to take place, as well as simply quality on court performance.”
Senior forward Devon Bruce leads the Dutchmen in both scoring (13.4) and
rebounding 6.9 while junior guard John Cagianello,
who recently became the 14th member of the Dutchmen's 1,000-Point
Club, is averaging 12.9 points and is the Dutchmen's leading three-point
shooter. Junior forward Brian Scordato, who missed Monday's game with an ankle sprain, is Union's other double-digit
scorer at 11.1 and he is also the team's second-leading rebounder
at 6.7. Junior point guard Chris Murphy leads the Dutchmen with his 2.7 assists
per game and is also averaging 6.9 points.
The College of St.
Joseph is led by junior guard Brandon Sowers, who
is averaging 14.1 points a game, and freshman forward Wesley Bell, who is at
11.7. Bell,
who is 6'5, is a native of Clifton Park. The Saints are averaging 61.8 points a game.
Connecticut College
has just one double-digit scorer, 6'6 freshman forward Charles Stone, who is
averaging 13.1 points to go along with his team-high 9.1 rebounds. The Camels come into the weekend having been
outscored by 11.6 points.
Wesleyan, meanwhile, opened the season with a victory before losing its next
three games by an average of 13 points.
The Cardinals broke that string with a 63-60 win over Eastern
Connecticut State
and have beaten Liberty League opponents Skidmore (56-54) and Rensselaer
(71-66 in overtime) during their current run.
In the last six games, Wesleyan has captured three two-point victories,
a three-point win, and two five-point wins, including the one overtime contest.
Senior guard Tim Holland and junior center Robert Kelly,
who is 6'7, 230 pounds, lead the Cardinals in scoring with averages of 19.9 and
15.1, respectively. Kelly is also the
team's leading rebounder at 6.9 with Holland
next at 6.4.
“As always, the Makofski Tourney has a special place on our schedule due to the historic effects Sig Makofski had on the game of basketball,” explained Montana. “In order to defend out title we will have to play good sound fundamental basketball, and continue to make strides as a team. I feel that Wesleyan University has gotten off to a good start, with tourney Championships at Skidmore and SUNY Oneonta, however I feel that Connecticut College offers them a quality opponent that has just gotten off to a slow start. Having scouted the College of St. Joseph in November we hope to be prepared for our opener on Friday, and are definitely only concerned with that game at this point.”
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 and was one of the five inductees
to the Union College Athletic Hall of Fame in 2002.
Mr. Makofski died in 1994.
Viniar Athletic Center Dedication Set for January 15
A new era in Union's proud basketball
history began the weekend of November 28 and 29 when the women and men's teams
moved from Memorial Field House to the brand new Viniar
Sports Complex. The $3.2 million facility will be dedicated on
Saturday, January 15 as Union looks to thank David Viniar, Class of 1976, and his family for their tremendous
donation.
The day's celebration will begin at 11 a.m. with the annual men's alumni game. A
private luncheon and recognition ceremony will take place at 12:30 and be followed by the Dutchwomen's Liberty League
game against Vassar at 2. Dedication of the Viniar Athletic
Center will be held on the court at
roughly 3:30 before the Dutchmen
take on Vassar at 4.
David Viniar graduated summa cum
laude from Union College
in 1976 and earned a Bachelor's degree in economics. He was a member of Union's
varsity basketball team, which in 1974-75, compiled a 20-4 record and captured
the Eastern College Athletic Conference's Upstate New York championship. He
serves today as a member of the Board of Trustees of the College.
After Union, Mr. Viniar
went on to graduate school at Harvard
University, where he received his
Master's in Business Administration in 1980. Upon graduation, David joined the
investment banking firm of Goldman Sachs & Co., where he became a partner
in 1992 and Chief Financial Officer in 1999.
An active alumnus, he has volunteered with the Career
Development Center,
served as admissions representative, and participated as a member of Friends of
Union Athletics. In 1997, he established the Leo and Evelyn Viniar
Scholarship at Union in honor of his parents.