By Rob Potter
LOCH SHELDRAKE — The Sullivan County Community College (SCCC) Generals and Lady Generals welcomed the Rockland Community College Hawks to the Paul Gerry Fieldhouse on Tuesday night for a hoops doubleheader.
The Lady Generals and Generals both recorded victories on a night when they also honored their sophomore players who will be graduating in May.
In the evening’s first game, the SCCC Lady Generals held a 38-24 lead at halftime on their way to a 76-59 victory over Rockland CC.
In the second contest, the SCCC Generals also held the advantage after the first 20 minutes of play. SCCC went into the lockerroom with a 54-34 lead and held off the Hawks by the final score of 94-84.
Good shooting keys Lady Generals’ win
Three players finished in double digits as the SCCC Lady Generals improved their record to 9-7 overall and 6-4 in Region XV by prevailing against Rockland CC.
Luna Jefferson led the Lady Generals by scoring 21 points. She also grabbed nine rebounds.
Kunnuh Wisseh had a double-double of 15 points and 12 rebounds.
Taisha Sherman registered 11 points and five rebounds.
Freshman guard Alyssa Corbett added seven points for the Lady Generals.
“We shot really well from the field tonight,” SCCC Coach Sara Thompson Tweedy said. “Kunnuh was 6 of 10, Luna shot 50 percent and Alyssa made 3 of her 4 shots.”
Shawan Crooks scored a team-high 18 points for Rockland CC.
“We struggled with staying focused and playing well for the full 40 minutes of the game,” Rockland CC Coach Rich Jacobson said. “That has been our Achilles heel all season as we have a young team.”
During halftime, Thompson Tweedy and Assistant Coach Diana Traugot presented each of the Lady Generals sophomores with a personalized basketball and a framed photo collage featuring action photos from their games earlier this season and during the 2009-2010 season.
Those six sophomores are: Savasia Caraballo, Destiny Harmer, Kashara Jenkins, Ashara Morris, Taisha Sherman and Nyoki Tate.
Generals clinch conference title
With their victory over Rockland CC , the SCCC Generals clinched the regular season Mid-Hudson Conference title with a 9-0 record. The Generals also improved their overall record to 18-4 and 11-1 in Region XV.
The Generals used a balanced scoring attack to defeat the Hawks. Freshman forward Cleanthony Early led the way with a game-high 29 points. Frankie Drayton had 16 points, Bobby Jones and Dustin Van Lieu each scored 13 points and Marvin Jean added 11 points.
Jacin Vera and Joel Kukulu were the leading scorers for Rockland CC (7-15 overall) with 27 points and 25 points, respectively. Vera made six 3-point shots in the game.
“We were down 20 points at halftime and that was just too much to come back from,” Rockland CC Coach Bill Kurisko said. “Sullivan has a good team and good coaches.”
SCCC Coach Kevin DeVantier praised the Hawks for the way they played in the second half.
“They fought hard to comeback,” he said. “They’re well coached and they kept playing hard.”
While pleased to get the win and earn the Mid-Hudson Conference title, DeVantier was disappointed the Generals didn’t maintain their level of play from the first half to the second half.
“We need to play better on defense,” he said. “Our last three regular season games are on the road and we need to improve in those games before going into the postseason tournaments.”
Prior to the opening tip-off, the three Generals sophomores – Kareem Bernard, Jordan Thorpe and Travis Wright – were recognized. They received personalized basketballs and framed photo collages from games during the past two seasons.