By Rob Potter
LOCH SHELDRAKE — February 22, 2008 — On Tuesday night, sophomore forward Bertram “B.J.” McDowell became only the fourth player in Sullivan County Community College (SCCC) men’s basketball history to reach the 1,000-point milestone.
Entering the game against the visiting Ulster Community College Senators – which was a play-in game for the Mid-Hudson Conference Tournament – McDowell had 997 career points. He wasted little time in putting his name in the Generals’ record book of 1,000-point scorers. Just 1:30 into the contest, McDowell made a 3-point shot from the wing.
The game was stopped for a moment as all of the Generals congratulated their teammate. As the crowd applauded, SCCC Coach Chris DePew presented McDowell, a sophomore guard, with a game ball at center court.
When the contest resumed, McDowell and his teammates expanded their lead to double digits during the next eight minutes.
SCCC grabbed a 45-19 lead at halftime and went on to post a 94-44 victory over the Senators.
With the win, the Generals earned a spot in the Mid-Hudson Conference semifinals.
SCCC is scheduled to host the Mid-Hudson Conference tourney at Paul Gerry Fieldhouse tonight and tomorrow. Weather permitting, the Generals will face Rockland in tonight’s first semifinal at 5:30 p.m. and Orange Community College will play Dutchess Community College the second semifinal at 7:30 p.m. The winners are set to meet at 6 p.m. tomorrow.
McDowell finished the game with 13 points.
Tyquan Moore led the Generals’ offense with 14 points.
Robert Adon and Tomasz Kurpiewski also scored in double figures for SCCC. Adon had 13 points and Kurpiewski netted 12 points.
For Ulster CC, Dante Thrasher scored 22 points and Earl Lawrence had 10 points.
“Being only the fourth player in the storied history of the men’s basketball program here at Sullivan to score a 1,000 points speaks volumes about B.J. McDowell,” DePew said following the game. “We’re extremely proud of him and he really deserves this recognition.”
“As for tonight’s game, it was a great opportunity for some of our kids on the bench to come in and get some playing time,” DePew added.
McDowell was happy to reach the milestone.
“It felt good,” McDowell said of reaching the milestone. “It’s good because of the support I received from the fans, my coaches and teammates.”
Note: On Wednesday night, SCCC held its Homecoming Game at Paul Gerry Fieldhouse and the Generals defeated Berkeley College, 97-55.
McDowell scored 25 points in the game to push his career total to 1,035 points. He is now third on the SCCC men’s basketball list of all-time leading scorers, trailing Mike Hay (1,152 points) and Darren Sykes (1,068 points).