SUFFOLK COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE 

BASKETBALL 

Championship Game

One Night, Two National Titles
Suffolk CC's men, women win tourneys
By Chris Antonacci
STAFF WRITER
March 17, 2003

Theirs is a story crafted with seemingly the same script. Similar situations, symmetrical scenes and storybook successes will forever connect the Suffolk CC-Selden men's and women's basketball teams.

Merely the characters and about 150 miles of roadway along the southern tier of the state separated the two programs. Each rallied in dramatic fashion - with strong second-half performances - to win NJCAA Division III national championships.

Darren Miller made a steal and then a three-pointer with four seconds left to secure a 61-56 victory over the College of DuPage (Ill.) for the men's team late Saturday night at SUNY-Delhi. Miller made a free throw 15 seconds earlier to extend Suffolk's lead to two.

Marcele Street scored all 15 of his points in the second half as the men's team overcame a 30-25 halftime deficit. Street had 14 rebounds, and Maurice Manning added 14 points and 11 rebounds. Vernon Alonzo scored 11 points off the bench, and Tamien Trent had eight points and eight assists.

Street and Manning contributed mostly in the second half after sitting out the final 10 minutes of the first half with two fouls each. Manning was named tournament MVP. Street was on the all-tournament team. The men's team finished 32-1 after it fell in the first round in its previous two trips to the national tournament.

It was only after the closing action and resolution that the conflict transformed into a release. The tight-knit players and coaching staff basked in the moment as they watched the tape from the championship game into yesterday morning. DuPage is 25-10.

"Our bench kept us in the game," Suffolk men's coach Rich Wrase said. "The guys rallied together."

So did the Suffolk women. Tournament MVP Molly Brothers provided a grand finale to her career, scoring 21 of her 31 points in the second half as the women's team defeated Madison Tech (Wis.), 63-53, Saturday night at Corning CC after it trailed 29-19 at halftime. Madison Tech is 29-5.

Brothers scored 180 points in six games at the national tournament the past two years. Brothers went 12-for-22 from the field and 7-for-9 from the foul line on Saturday. She also had 26 rebounds and eight blocked shots.

Rochelle Clark had 11 points and nine assists, and Katie Burke added 10 points and 13 rebounds.

"The kids played with a lot of heart and courage," Suffolk women's coach Kevin Foley said. "When adversity hit, we knew how to handle it. Everyone knew from the first day what our goal was, and that was to be the last team standing."

Brothers' contributions helped her team steadily chip away at the deficit and the other players responded off her energy. The experience and lingering memories from a fourth-place finish last season also provided inspiration.

Foley provided an emotional halftime speech, but he empowered Suffolk (25-1) to determine its own fate.

"I have confidence in them that they are mature enough and know what to do in any situation," Foley said. "You never are sure what is going to happen. You can only call upon the kids to muster up what is inside of them. They began to play like we were capable of playing - mentally and physically."
Copyright © 2003, Newsday, Inc.

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