By Rob Potter
LOCH SHELDRAKE — January 27, 2006 – The Sullivan Generals opened the second half of their 2005-2006 basketball schedule on Wednesday night with a victory at home in the Paul Gerry Fieldhouse.
The Generals built a 12-point lead in the first half and gradually pulled away during the second 20 minutes of play to record a 77-61 victory over the Post University junior varsity team.
SCCC led by as many as 27 points on the way to improving its record to 12-3. Post JV fell to 1-6 this season.
SCCC Coach Chris DePew had mixed emotions following the game. He said he thought that his team would play a little better in its first game of the spring semester. But he was happy to get a victory – especially with two of the Generals’ best players out with injuries.
All-American sophomore guard Everage Richardson has a broken ankle and sophomore point guard Kevin Johnson has a fractured knee cap.
“We won the game and that’s a positive,” DePew said. “I’m worried, though. I think this team has the talent to win a national championship, but two of our top players are out and there’s really no timetable for Everage and KJ to return.”
While DePew is hoping that Richardson and Johnson can return to the lineup in the next few weeks, he is expecting several other players to step up and play well.
Two of the Generals that DePew is counting on are freshman guard Josh Lott and sophomore forward Roberto Macklin. Lott and Macklin responded against the Post JV Eagles.
Lott scored a team-high 21 points, 15 of which came on five successful 3-point shots. Macklin added 18 points for the Generals.
SCCC freshman forward Jason Johnson had 11 points and teammate Daniel Pearson recorded 10 points.
The Eagles’ offense was paced by Omar Robinson, who scored 17 points.
“In the first half, we played pretty well and stayed with them,” Post JV Coach J.R. Fredette said. “In the second half, they began to control the game and we didn’t have as many good shots.
“Sullivan is a very good junior college team,” added Fredette, who noted that his squad is a National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division II team.
DePew said that the Generals’ somewhat slow start – as evidenced by the fact that the team’s normally fast-paced offense scored just 13 points in the first 11 minutes of the game – could have been a result of the players trying to get used to game conditions again following the month-long break between semesters.
“I think we will be OK,” DePew said. “We just have to keep playing well while trying to get Everage and KJ healthy and back on the court again.”