By Ted Waddell
LOCH SHELDRAKE —February 13, 2001 For the Sullivan County Community College (SCCC) Generals, it was a case of riding the opposition hard and putting them up wet.
The home team men’s varsity basketball team defeated the Colts of Orange County Community College (OCCC) 69-45. The Region XV game was played on Thursday night at Paul Gerry Fieldhouse.
While the Generals (13-3) were generally flat, they managed to control the boards and showed an occasional flash of energy in an otherwise rather “nonchalant” game.
The home team took a 34-18 lead into the locker room. In the second half, the Colts came within nine points of the Generals, 35-27, before the hosts pulled away.
Kris Ibezim led the Generals with a game high score of 18 points. Dereck Rankin reached double digits with 13.
High point man for the Colts was Pat Schulz with nine points.
At the free throw line, both teams shot 65 percent, as SCCC was 17/26 while OCCC was 13/20.
As of the February 6 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) men’s basketball poll, the Generals were ranked fourth in Division III. In the week’s previous poll, the were ranked third.
Paul Rickard, coach of the Colts, said it was the worst offensive game his team has played all season, although “The big kid (Auggy Sanchez) did a pretty good job.”
“They (Sullivan) killed us on the boards,” he added.
While taking the “W” in stride, Generals helmsman Will Brown called the game, “Our worst performance of the season… we were real flat.”
According to Brown, his charges wanted to play their usual fast-paced game, but were thrown off stride by the Colts’ game plan of using the 30-second clock to slow things down.
Combined with what he perceived as a laid-back attitude about the game on the home team bench, it wasn’t a very inspired performance, a review that didn’t exactly thrill a coach driven to perfection.
Looking toward the upcoming NJCAA Region XV Tournament (March 3-4) which will be hosted by SCCC, Brown said, “I have no problem going on record [that] without question, we are the team to beat.”
“We have to be focused,” he said of the tourney. “We’re still trying to chip off rust from the inter-session layoff.”



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