Men's Basketball Looks to Rebound in '13-'14 Campaign
Patchogue, N.Y. – The Eagles are now two years removed from the team that went 21-5 overall and 17-1 in the Skyline Conference. That team almost triumphed in the first round of the NCAA tournament but fell, 87-84, to an Albertus Magnus team that went 28-2, the last game for all five starting seniors. Last year, the Golden Eagles had big shoes to fill with a very young team and finished 6-19 and 4-14 in the Skyline. St. Joseph's had made the Skyline Tournament in each of the past five seasons, a run that ended in 2012-13, but this is a new year and a fresh start. Still, the Eagles come into the season, seventh in the preseason Skyline Coaches' Poll and they are going to have to earn respect.
This year's team has a chance to bring the Skyline Conference trophy back to St. Joseph's for the first time since 2008-2009. The Eagles enter the season without their leading scoring and rebounder of last season, Keith Anderson but return their second leading scorer, Evan Mohammed, who averaged 13.5 points per game. Phil Calixte led the Eagles in minutes last season as the only player to play in all 25 games. He filled the stat sheets averaging nine points, four rebounds, four assists and two steals per game.
The Eagles hope to get good minutes again from guard Sean McCarthy who averaged 12.8 points and 6.8 rebounds in 31.6 minutes per game. Returning forward Cody Lohsen gave SJC great minutes last season averaging 6.6 points and seven rebounds per game. Forward Jordan Kowalski and guard Brady Colucci hope to increase their minutes from last season - they combined for 12 points per game last season. Ryan Reidy looks to provide the Eagles with quality minutes once again at guard and forward.
This year's team consists of four freshmen along with three transfers. One of the freshmen, Andy Laurent is the younger brother of Eagles alum and 1000-point scorer, Olivier Laurent. Olivier was one of the leaders of the 2011-2012 team that went to the Skyline Conference finals and the NCAA Tournament for two straight seasons. Andy is coming from Amityville High School, where he led his team to a 21-3 record and the semifinals of the New York State High School Championship.
The Eagles have added some size to their front court with the 6-5 Darryl Charles, 6-3 freshman Aaron Coughlin and 6-3 freshman Julius Jackson. St. Joseph's has also added some depth to their back court with guards Dan Nappi and Nick Gallina.
St. Joseph's has four non-conference games to build chemistry before beginning their Skyline Conference schedule. They start the season this weekend at the Rick Martin/Holiday Inn Classic where they will play Plymouth St. and Southern Maine in Westfield, Mass.
