Panther's Look to Continue Momentum After Senior Day Win

The Plymouth State Men's basketball team looks to ride the momentum they gained in their 82-72 victory over UMass Boston last Sat., Feb. 11 2012.  This win puts the Panther's overall record at 8-14, and their Little East Conference record at 3-9.

As all of Plymouth's wins have been this season, this game was a team effort as seniors Jesse Sabolis (Stoughton, Mass.), Kyle Walker (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Brian Chergey (Bow, N.H.) had a combined 35 points, 14 rebounds, and shot over 87% at the free throw line on their senior day. "It is always nice when you can win on Senior Day" stated Head Coach Andrew Novick. "Our seniors have meant a lot not only to our men's basketball program, but also to this great university" added Novick. Despite this being Coach Novick's first season as head coach for the Panthers, the former University of Chicago graduate has meshed extremely well with his players this season.

These three players weren't the only ones to contribute to the victory, as sophomore guard Petey Skevas (Wethersfield, Conn.) had a double-double with a team high 14 points and 10 assists, while Matt Cloutier (Milton, N.H.) and Shomari Morgan (Manchester, N.H.) chipped in eight points a piece. This put Morgan at over one hundred points for the season, while Cloutier raised his three-point percentage to over 46%.  "It was certainly a total team effort (against UMass Boston)" Coach Novick said. "Offensively, one stat we always talk about is assists; our team is at its best when we are sharing the basketball (the Panthers had 22 assists against UMass Boston, doubling the amount the Beacons had). Defensively, we are learning how hard you work to get defensive stops and then rebounds. I thought our defensive intensity and ball pressure helped us create points off turnovers" Novick concluded. The Panthers forced the Beacons into 16 turnovers for the game, and this led to 19 Plymouth State points. The defensive pressure also forced the Beacons to struggle from the floor, as they shot less than 30% from three-point range, and only 45% from the field (compare to a season high 56% for Plymouth).

This night was ultimately about the seniors. Despite the overall record not being as good as the team hoped it would be, Sabolis, Walker, Chergey and Ben Higgins (Rochester, N.H.) have worked extremely hard this season, and for Chergey, Sabolis and Walker, they have been working at it since they were first year student-athletes. "I'm sure that Jesse, Brian, and Kyle are very excited about getting a win in their last home game" Coach Novick said of three of his seniors.

The Panthers will concluded their regular season against Western Connecticut State University tomorrow night, in Danbury, Connecticut. Plymouth has already beaten the Colonials this season (an 82-72 win on Jan. 14th), despite the fact that the Colonials have the second best L.E.C. record. A win tomorrow night for the Panthers would be huge, as it will give them a better seed for the L.E.C. tournament starting on Tues., Feb. 21st. For players like Jesse Sabolis and Brian Chergey, who have been awesome players for the Panthers in their four years at this school, hopefully they will surprise a couple of teams, and win the L.E.C. tournament.