Plymouth State Looks to Capitalize on Growing Season

If points were given for heart and determination, the Plymouth State men’s basketball team would be undefeated. The Panthers wrapped up their season with a close 66-62 loss to Rhode Island College in the first round of the Little East Conference Tournament. They End the season with a 7-19 overall record going 2-12 in the conference.

The Panthers, who only had two seniors on the team, fought diligently all season long, and gained a lot of experience for their young players. “Going into the season, we knew that we would have big shoes to fill with the loss of graduating seniors Peter Skevas and Mark MacGregor from a team that reached the ECAC’s for the first time since 2010,” said Head Coach Andrew Novick, who has just completed his fourth season with the Panther squad.

The team’s biggest win came at Foley Gymnasium when the underdog Panthers knocked off the Eastern Connecticut State Warriors 65-57, snapping their long conference winning-streak. “Our win against Eastern Connecticut, snapping their 27-game conference winning streak, was certainly a season highlight and demonstrated to our group that we have the ability to grow as a team,” exclaimed Novick.

It’s also important to point out that the games were extremely close, a fact Novick is very proud of.

“There were many games this year that were decidedly close giving us confidence heading into next season.” He says. The team loses 1,000 point scorer Alex Burt (Dover, NH) and forward Michael Elliott-Baltimore (North Lauderdale, FL) to graduation this year, but retain huge assets in Junior Uche Nwokeji (Lynn, MA), Sophomore Captain Nathan Clarke (Reading, MA) as well as fellow sophomores Curtis Arsenault (Berlin, NH) and Jack Preston (Nashua, NH).

Another great addition to the team, and a player to watch is freshman Brian Boulay (Keene, NH) who was the recipient of the LEC All-Rookie team honor. Coach Novick knows he has the pieces to have a great team, with a little work in some key areas. “We will have to develop more consistency with our defensive communication, eliminate the costly turnovers at critical points of the game, and demonstrate improvement in our perimeter shooting, especially at the free throw line,” says Novick.

After this year of growth and change, it will be very interesting to see what this squad can do come next winter. “We are hopeful that our team will continue to make strides heading into the start of next season.” Replies Novick. “Our team has a lot of work to do both on the court and in the weight room this offseason to be more competitive in a challenging Little East Conference for the 2015-2016 season but we have a great group of young men that bring an strong work ethic and a great sense of determination.”