SUFFOLK COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE 

MEN'S BASKETBALL 

      The 2003 NJCAA Division III Men's Basketball Championship field is now set and six of the eight teams that qualified have been to the tournament before, while two teams are making their first trip to the championships.
Third-ranked SUNY Delhi (29-4) enters the tournament as the highest remaining ranked team from the final NJCAA poll. The Broncos spent two stints as the top-ranked team in the country during the season. Delhi is making its third straight appearance in the tournament, fresh off a win over Mohawk Valley Community College in the regional championship.
Delhi is averaging 78.6 points per game, but the Broncos defense is what shapes their game. Delhi is giving up just 55.1 points per game with a strong man-to-man defense. On the offensive side, Delhi isn't afraid to get out and run, but can also slow things down. Coach Anthony Evans' squad is led by freshman Aaron Williams, who averages 16.7 points, 8.2 assists, 7.7 rebounds and 4.2 steals per game.
As in the past, Delhi's bench is deep and will go to 10 different players throughout a game. Kern Baptiste averages 11.2 points and 12 rebounds per game, while Andre Pereira comes in putting up nearly 11 points per game. Rashawn Vaughn leads the team in assists with 11.6 per game and adds just over 9 points and 4.8 steals. Wallace Tsormey leads the team in rebounding with 15 per game.
Fifth-ranked Richland College (22-8), of Dallas, Texas, returns to Delhi after finishing third at last year's tournament. The Thunderducks aren't afraid to shoot and average around 90 points per game, while giving up 78 on the defensive end. Coach Clark Burke said his team scores almost by a committee and has three people averaging double-digits.
Burke calls his offense an "intelligent up-tempo," while his defense is aggressive and puts on a lot of pressure. Leon Horner leads the team in scoring with 18.6 per game. Kevin Moran averages 13.6 points and also 6.8 rebounds. Jermaine Byrd is third in scoring with 11.5 per game and also averages 5.8 assists. Cedric Patt is scoring 9.4 points and grabbing 6.5 boards per game.
Eighth-ranked Suffolk County CC (29-1), of Selden, N.Y., will be making its first trip to Delhi after knocking off perennial powerhouse Sullivan County Community College 79-62 in the regional championship (Suffolk's first title since 1970). The Clippers seem to have one of the best mixes at the tournament, averaging 93 points and giving up just 62. Coach Richard Wrase said his team likes to play up-tempo and shoots the ball well. His defense only gave up 80 points a couple of times this season.
Suffolk's season seemed to be sandwiched around Sullivan. The Clippers opened the season with 14 wins, just to be knocked off by Sullivan. Fourteen wins later, Suffolk faced Sullivan again, this time in the regional championship. In the process, Suffolk set a new school record for wins in a season.
Suffolk is led by Tremain Trent, a second team All-American who averages 23 points and dishes out 7 assists per game, and eclipsed the 1,000 point mark for his career midway through the season. Maurice Manning is averaging 14.5 points and 10 rebounds, while Marcele Street scores 13 and grabs 10 boards per game. Russell Breton averages 11.9 points.
Fergus Falls Community College, Minn. (28-1) returns to the tournament for the first time since its national championship season in 1998. The Spartans are currently ranked ninth in the nation and knocked off top-ranked Minneapolis Community and Technical College in the region semifinals. In fact, Fergus Falls beat Minneapolis three times this season, twice in the past week. Coach Dave Retzlaff said his team started the season with an up-tempo offense, but recently has slowed down some and now does a little of both as they average nearly 90 points. Defensively, the Spartans attempt to adjust to their opponents while trying not to make mistakes and give up 72.2 points.
Aaron Austin is the Fergus Falls leader with 20 points and 5.4 assists. He was named the region tournament's MVP. Nick Hanson averages 14 points and 7 rebounds, while Matt Hoie averages 10 points. Adam Sullivan scores 9 a game and Matt Johnson leads the team in assists with 4.3
Brookdale Community College (27-4) of Lincroft, N.J. enters with an honorable mention in the last poll. The Jersey Blues beat Keystone College 76-67 to earn their first trip to the tournament. Brookdale averages 86 points and gives up 71 per game. This will be Brookdale's first trip to the national tournament in its school history.
Interestingly enough, Brookdale coach Paul Cisek has a connection with Delhi. He is the brother-in-law of Mike Deane, who coached the Broncos from 1976 to 1980. He said he made trips to Delhi to watch games and stayed on campus with Deane. Now Cisek returns to Delhi seeking a national title for his school.
Brookdale's offense is patterned and will take open shots. On the defensive side, the Jersey Blues like to run a half court man-to-man and will go 10 deep on the bench. Chris Brown leads the team in scoring with 19.8 points and 10 rebounds. Brookdale also features Miguel Rodriguez, who led the nation in rebounding with 16.2. He also averaged 15 points. Kelvin DeLosAngeles averages 11 points, while Bob Varnu and Mark Kelly each score 10. Dennis DelliSanti leads the team with 8.3 assists.
Defending national champion College of DuPage, Ill., (23-9) returns after winning the title in dramatic fashion last season. The trend seems to have continued for the Chaparrals as they knocked off sixth-ranked Joliet Junior College 66-65 in the region finals. DuPage was honorable mention in the final poll and head coach Don Klaas will be inducted into the NJCAA Hall of Fame next weekend. DuPage averages 70 points and gives up 63.
Klaas said his team likes to try and break on offense, but stay in control. He said the offense and defense are similar to last season, but the team is a little smaller and a little quicker. Terrence McLemore leads the team with 18 points and 9 rebounds and last season's tournament MVP Steve Davis returns averaging 12 per game. Ben Curtis and Joe Carter each average 9 points, while Cory Larde averages 8 points and nearly 5 assists per game.
Montgomery College - Rockville, Md., (21-10), and coach Steve HHobson return to the tournament after a season away. The Knights knocked off Caldwell CC 84-69 in the district final to advance to the tournament. Depth is the key to Montgomery and Hobson said he'll use 12 players. He said Montgomery is "extremely a team concept." But the Knights will run and average 93 points per game. They give up 80 points on defense.
Cory Burns, Mike Brevaner, Deli Ojo, Kweku Pesseh, Johan Matos and Brandon Macon each average double-digit scoring for the Knights. Burns, Brevaner and Macon all average 5 rebounds. Hobson said his team is small, but aggressive, and they like to score.
Springfield Technical Community College, Mass., (17-13) returns to Delhi for the second consecutive year. The Rams beat Northern Essex CC 48-39 in the region final. Springfield averages 71.1 points and gives up 66.1 on defense. Only one player, Larinso Saunders, returns from last year's team. Saunders is averaging 12.7 points and 6.3 rebounds.
Springfield only has seven players on the roster, so coach William Shepard said they all see minutes. Shepard is hoping to celebrate this weekend as he's still riding high from the birth of his second daughter, Maya Angelou Shepard, on March 4.
They play man-to-man on defense and like to run on offense with the chance, but they are disciplined. Brandon McCombs leads the team with 17.6 points and 9.8 rebounds. Sulaiman Abdul-Ali scores 15.4 and grabs 6.2 rebounds, while dishing out 4.9 assists. Vaughn Andrews averages 10.2 points and 6.7 rebounds.

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