HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. (July 1, 2009) – The Centenary men’s basketball team hosted the first of two summer Cyclones Boys Basketball Camps, June 29 – July 2, in the Folkner Family Gymnasium at the John M. Reeves Athletic Center in Hackettstown, N.J. Boys ages seven-15 took part in various drills and exercises designed to teach the fundamentals of the game of basketball. Counselors included Centenary coaches and student-athletes.

The second boy’s basketball camp will take place from July 20-23. For more information click here.

HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. (May 5, 2009) – Centenary athletics held its annual banquet Tuesday night, handing out awards for the 2008-09 season. Coach of the Year honors went to first-year men’s basketball coach Enrico Mastroianni, Rookie of the Year went to Caitlin Veverka (Bayonne, N.J./Holy Family Academy) and Owen Vernon (Great Meadows, N.J./Hackettstown), the Scholar Athlete winners were Bianca Santulli (Bridgewater, N.J./Bridgewater) and Adam Achillies (Lanoka Harbor, NJ/Lacey Twp.) and the Cardy Gemma Award went to Jolyn Veres (Denville, N.J./Morris Knolls) and Chris Hill (Flanders, N.J./Gil St. Bernard's).

Mastroianni guided the team to a 13-13 overall record and an 8-8 CSAC mark. The team won more regular season and conference games than in the last four years combined, reaching the postseason for the first time in five seasons. With the majority of the team returning, the future is bright for Centenary men’s basketball.

Centenary 2008-09 Athletic Awards

HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. (February 22, 2009) - Two players on the men’s basketball team were selected as part of the Colonial States Athletic Conference All-Conference Teams. Senior Andrew Baker (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) was chosen as a 2nd Team Selection, while junior, Ryan Kearney (North Arlington, N.J./Queen of Peace) was chosen to be an Honorable Mention Selection.

For Baker, this is his second time being an All-Conference member as he was an Honorable Mention in 2008. He finished the season leading the team in scoring and rebounding, averaging 17.3 points per game, 10.1 rebounds per game and 2.3 blocks per game. Baker shot .602 percent from the floor, as well as .680 percent from the foul line. He also became Centenary’s all-time leader in rebounds and blocked shots.

This was Kearney’s first season in the CSAC conference, thus his first time being a member of the All-Conference team. Kearney finished the year second on the team in scoring averaging 16.6 points per game, as well 6.3 rebounds per game.

Corey Kearney (North Arlington, N.J./Queen of Peace) was named one of the conference’s Sportsmanship Award Recipients.

Full 2008-2009 CSAC Men's Basketball Regular Season Awards

HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. (February 21, 2009) - The Centenary College men’s basketball team returned to their conference’s playoffs for the first time in four years, however, were eliminated in the first round by the Keystone Giants by a final score of 69-56. The #3 seeded Giants will now travel to No. 2 seed Cabrini College in the semi-finals of the Colonial States Athletic Conference Playoffs.

Both teams were a little bit tight coming out of the gates, and the score reflected that. Neither team could really get anything going on the offensive end in the half’s opening minutes. Eight minutes into the half, Keystone held the slight advantage over the Cyclones at eight to five. The half picked up from here though as Centenary went inside to Andrew Baker (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) who scored emphatically with a dunk to make the score 11-7 in favor of the Keystone.

The Giants, however, feeling comfortable in their home gym, began to get warm from the outside. First it was Spencer Lunger who connected on a wide open three from the wing to put the Giants ahead 18-9 with 9:21 to go. Then a few possessions later it was Ryne Luce who sank a three from the top of the key giving the Giants a 9 point lead, 21-12. The Giants stayed outside the three point line, this time it was Tercel Taylor who hit, and it gave Keystone 12 point advantage, 24-12. Keystone’s next score, was again a three pointer, another one from Luce to give the Giants their biggest lead of the half at 15, 27-12.

Centenary went back to what was working though, feeding Baker inside as he converted a lay up and got fouled to bring the Cyclones back within 15. The Giants though again were able to put themselves back up 12 when Taylor drove the lane and finished a reverse lay up with just 15 seconds left in the half, giving us our halftime score of 33-21 in favor of Keystone.

Keystone would not allow Centenary to get back into the game, and kept them at bay with some timely three pointers, first from Luce who hit a pull up three to put his team ahead 45-28 with 13:40 left to go in the half. Luce again hit a three, this time with a some shooters luck as his shot hit the back of the rim, bounced straight up, and kissed off the backboard to fall through and give the Giants a 52-33 lead with 11:58 remaining. Baker though wouldn’t go down quietly for the Cyclones as he converted another basket and the foul and put the Cyclones back within 16 at 52-36.

Taylor though would again push his team back up by 18 points getting a three point play the old-fashioned way, driving to the rim, getting fouled and hitting the lay up, the ensuing foul shot made the score 56-38 Keystone with 8:50 left to play. Skipping ahead in the half, the Cyclones who were extending the game by fouling, pulled to within 10, when Will Atkinson (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) got free on the sideline and made a lay up making the score 60-50 with only 1:53 to play. Keystone would not let it get any closer than that, as they continued to send the duo of Michael Kelly and Spencer Lunger to the line to continue hitting foul shots and keeping their advantage to 13 points. Ryan Donovan (King of Prussia, Pa./Lower Merion) scored an uncontested lay up in the games final seconds to make the final score, 69-56 to Keystone.

Centenary was led on this day by their senior captain, Baker, who battled double teams all game and managed to score 15 points while also grabbing 17 rebounds, and blocking three shots. Atkinson lead the team in scoring with 16 points, as he made two three pointers, and also dished three assists and grabbed three rebounds. Keystone was lead by Tercel Taylor who scored a game high 19 points, and connected on two three pointers of his own. Luce came off the bench for the Giants to score 14 points and hit four three pointers in the game.

Boxscore

LANGHORNE, Pa. (February 19, 2009) – The Centenary men’s basketball team closed out the 2008-09 regular season with a 77-64 win at Philadelphia Biblical, Thursday in Langhorne, PA. With the win, the Cyclones finish 13-12 overall, 8-8 in the CSAC, their first above .500 season in more than five years.

Centenary saw four student-athletes finish in double-figures, led by sophomore Rob Urie (Ortley Beach, N.J./Toms River East), who tallied 17 on four-of-eight shooting. Junior Ryan Kearney (North Arlington, N.J./Queen of Peace) scored 16 points, finishing four-of-six from the floor and seven-of-eight from the free throw line, while senior Andrew Baker (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) recorded 15 points and a game-high 18 rebounds and sophomore Will Atkinson (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) shot five-of-nine en route to 13 points.

As a team, the Cyclones shot 53.2 percent from the floor (25-of-47), including 65.0 (13-of-20) in the second half. They were just as good defensively, holding PBU to 38.4 percent from the floor (28-of-73), including 34.1 (15-of-44) in the second half. Philadelphia Biblical was led by Tom Arthur, who finished with 29 points and 13 rebounds.

The Cyclones opened the game with a quick 9-2 run before Philadelphia Biblical stormed back with a 14-4 run of its own to take a 16-13 lead with 11:03 remaining. The two teams traded baskets until a 9-0 Centenary spurt, capped by a Baker dunk, gave the road team a 29-25 lead with 1:43 to go in the half. But PBU closed out the period with a 4-2 run and the Cyclones went into halftime clinging to a 31-29 lead.

The second half began as the first did, with a 9-2 Centenary run. First a steal and a jumper by sophomore Corey Kearney (North Arlington, N.J./Queen of Peace) gave CC a 33-29 lead. Then a block by Baker led to a two-point basket by Atkinson and a 35-29 advantage for the Cyclones. Philadelphia Biblical missed a jump shot and Kearney scored again for a 37-39 lead, and the Cyclones added a Urie basket and a Ryan Kearney free throw for the 40-31 edge. Centenary never looked back, leading by as many as 17 before winning by 13.

The Cyclones return to action on Saturday, Feb. 21, in a CSAC tournament matchup at Keystone at 3:00 p.m. It marks their first postseason tournament in more than four years. Centenary split its season series with Keystone this year, falling 72-65 on the road on Dec. 4 but winning at home, 84-77, on Feb. 7.

Boxscore

SCRANTON, Pa. (February 16, 2009) – Centenary men’s basketball overcame a 12-point first half deficit and defeated Marywood, 87-84, Monday night in Scranton, PA. The Cyclones were led by Andrew Baker (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) for most of the game, but the final three minutes belonged to Will Atkinson (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan) who scored 14 points in that stretch, including the game-winning three pointer. The Cyclones improve to 7-8 in the CSAC and 12-12 overall. Marywood falls to 15-9 and 9-6 in the conference.

One player from each team scored at least 20 points in the opening period. Baker had 20 of the Cyclones 34 first half points, while Marywood’s Sidney Tharpe torched the Cyclones for 27 first half points, shooting a sizzling nine-of-13 from the field. This hot shooting helped Marywood open up a 12 point edge going into halftime, leading Centenary 46-34.

Fighting for their playoff lives, the Cyclones found themselves trailing by 12, 52-40, at the 17:33 mark. Over the next seven minutes, however, Centenary rolled off a 19-5 run to get back into the game. CC took the lead on a Baker layup with nine minutes left, making the score 59-57. The Pacers came back, and after a pair of three pointers from Joshua Pena and Tharpe, Marywood held a slight 73-67 lead. It was at this point though that Atkinson took over. He scored the Cyclones next nine points on two three pointers, and after being fouled shooting a three, he converted all three foul shots.

With the game tied and a minute remaining, Atkinson drove baseline and converted a reverse layup to give the Cyclones an 84-82 lead with 49 seconds left to play. On Marywood’s next possession, however, they went to their go-to player Tharpe, and he hit a running floater to re-tie the game at 84 with 13 seconds remaining. The Cyclones wasted no time and Rob Urie (Ortley Beach, N.J./Toms River) took the inbounds and raced down the court and handed off to Atkinson, who hit another three pointer, this one the deciding basket, giving the Cyclones an 87-84 lead.

Baker scored at least 30 points for the second time this season, finishing 12-of-19 from the floor and seven-of-eight from the free throw line. Atkinson grabbed five rebounds to go along with his 14 points, while junior Ryan Kearney (North Arlington, N.J./Queen of Peace) tallied 16 points on eight-of-17 shooting. Urie also scored in double-figures for the Cyclones, finishing with 10 points on five-of-six shooting. Tharpe led all scorers with 42 points and also grabbed 12 rebounds.

Centenary returns to action on Thursday, Feb. 19, when it faces Philadelphia Biblical on the road at 7:00 p.m. in its final regular-season contest of 2008-09.

Boxscore

HACKETTSTOWN, N.J. (February 16, 2009) - Senior Andrew Baker (Sparta, N.J./Sparta) was named to the Colonial States Athletic Conference's Men's Basketball Player of the Week Honor Roll. Baker put up averages of 19.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.6 assists and 2.3 blocks per game in Centenary's three games last week. The Cyclones went 1-2 during that stretch, picking up a win against Cabrini College and dropping games to Baptist Bible College and Gwynedd-Mercy. The Cyclones have two regular season games remaining.