By Rob Potter
LOCH SHELDRAKE — November 12, 2010 — On Tuesday night, the Sullivan County Community College (SCCC) Generals opened their 2010-2011 basketball season on a positive note.
The Generals defeated the visiting Ulster County Community College Senators, 87-68, in a Mid-Hudson Conference (MHC) game at SCCC’s Paul Gerry Fieldhouse.
Both teams held the lead in the very close first half. But whenever the Generals or Senators took a lead of four or six points, the other team quickly came back to tie the score. The largest lead of those opening 20 minutes was 11-3 at the 14:55 mark when SCCC’s William Davis Jr. made a free throw to give his team that eight-point cushion.
Ulster CCC (1-2, 1-1 MHC) was able to maintain a small lead for much of the first 11 minutes of the second half. But with 8:32 remaining in the half, SCCC’s Curtis Williams tipped in a teammate’s missed shot to even the score at 58-58.
With 7:14 to go, Cleanthony Early made a pair of foul shots to give the Generals a 60-58 lead. SCCC (1-0, 1-0 MHC) then extended its advantage for the rest of the game.
“Those technical fouls hurt us,” Ulster CCC Coach Harold Rayford Jr. said. “We got too caught up in the emotion and atmosphere of the game. We were hurt at the free throw line.”
The technical fouls Rayford referred to were called on his team late in game. The first occurred with 5:44 remaining and SCCC’s Dashawn Joyner made both subsequent free throws to extend his team’s lead to 64-58.
The Senators were whistled for a second technical foul with 1:07 to go. Joyner swished one of two foul shots to make it an 82-68 game.
“My guys played a good game,” Rayford said. “We will get better and we will see Sullivan again later in the season.”
Johnathan Williams led the Senators’ offense with a game-high 22 points. Joshua Behagen and Allan Forbes added 15 points and 11 points, respectively, for Ulster CCC.
One key to the Generals’ victory was balanced scoring as four players finished in double figures. Marvin Jean led the team with 20 points, Joyner had 19 points, Early netted 16 points and Kenny Bradshaw recorded 15 points.
Joyner, a freshman guard, grabbed 11 rebounds to record a double-double in his first college game. He also had six assists.
Early registered nine rebounds and four assists, while Bradshaw had seven rebounds.
“Dashawn Joyner was tremendous tonight,” SCCC Coach Kevin DeVantier said. “Marvin Jean did a great job on defense for us. He guarded their best player all night.”
DeVantier was pleased to start the new season with a win.
“This isn’t just a one-game process, it’s a 30-game process,” he said. “We have very high expectations and want to be playing our best basketball at the end of the season.
“All of our players except for one are new to the team,” DeVantier continued. “So for almost everybody this was their first college game. They were nervous and had some jitters. But in the second half they started to play better.”
DeVantier, who is in his second season of leading the Generals, noted that the team will need to improve quickly because SCCC will be facing nationally-ranked opponents in its next three games.
Last night, the Generals were scheduled to host No. 10 Passaic (N.J.) Community College at Paul Gerry Fieldhouse. This weekend, SCCC will host the inaugural Lodge at Rock Hill Classic Tournament, where the Generals will meet No. 5 Mass Bay Community College and No. 1 and defending National Junior College Athletic Association Division III national champion Joliet (Ill.) Community College.
Note: The other men’s teams playing in this weekend’s tournament will be Herkimer County Community College and Columbia-Green Community College.
The tourney will also feature a women’s division comprised of four teams, including the host SCCC Lady Generals, Herkimer County Community College, Sussex (N.J.) County Community College and Berkeley (N.J.) College.
The event is free for SCCC students with ID. Full-day passes are available to the general public for $2 per day and to non-SCCC students for $1 per day with ID.
For more information, please call Tournament Director Chris DePew at 434-5750, ext. 4313.