SELINSGROVE, Pa. — The Susquehanna University women’s basketball team needs to win just one of its two remaining games to finish in the top four in the MAC Commonwealth Conference and clinch a Middle Atlantic Conference playoff berth for the 11th-straight season under 13th-year head coach Mark Hribar.
The picture isn’t nearly that good for the Crusader men’s basketball team, which has seen a six-game losing streak take them from being 12-4 overall, 5-2 and tied for second in the MAC Commonwealth Conference — to now being 12-10 and part of a four-way tie for the fourth and final Commonwealth playoff spot at 5-7. Unfortunately for 11th-year head coach Frank Marcinek and his team, they don’t presently have the tiebreaking advantage with those teams — meaning they almost have to win their final two games and then get help to avoid missing the conference post-season for the third time in four years.
The Crusader women are presently tied with Juniata (15-7, 7-5 MAC CC) for third in the Commonwealth Conference, but would clinch third-place with a win Wednesday in their 6 p.m. home finale over the Eagles — coupled with a Messiah win over Widener. The Falcons (18-4, 11-1 MAC CC) would clinch their first Commonwealth Conference championship with their win, also giving Susquehanna a tiebreaking advantage over Juniata by virtue of having the lone win over Messiah in the conference this season (83-80, Nov. 30) and a split with the Eagles. Susquehanna would play a MAC quarterfinal playoff game next Tuesday at either Allentown (19-3, ranked second in the region) or Scranton (21-1, ranked first in the region), depending on whether it finishes third or fourth respectively.
To beat the Eagles, the Crusaders will have to end a two-game losing streak which saw them drop a pair of 12-point decisions at the third and fifth-ranked team’s in the latest NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Region poll in King’s (59-71) and Elizabethtown (66-78) last Thursday and Saturday respectively. The losses left the team at 13-9 overall, 7-5 in the conference. Prior to those losses, a 73-57 win Tuesday over Lebanon Valley secured the program its 12th-straight winning season.
Susquehanna squandered an eight-point lead with two minutes to play in its 95-88 overtime loss at Juniata on January 19. Second-year head coach Amy Buxbaum (23-23, .500) has turned around an Eagle program which had suffered through six-straight losing seasons — guiding it to its first winning season since going 15-7 in 1992-93.
Wednesday’s Senior Recognition Night game with Juniata will include a pre-game tribute to the squad’s two senior players and tri-captains in center Karyn Kern (Brodheadsville/Pleasant Valley H.S.) and guard Lisa Stack (Swoyersville/Wyoming Valley West H.S.). Kern suffered a season-ending knee injury in that win over Messiah in the fifth game and does qualify for another year of eligibility if she opts to use it.
The Crusaders close their regular season Saturday with a 6 p.m. game at seventh-place Albright (8-14, 2-10 MAC CC).
The men need to win their 8 p.m. home finale Wednesday vs. last-place Juniata (3-19, 1-11 MAC CC), then pull an upset at first-place Albright (17-4, 10-2 MAC CC) Saturday at 8 p.m., and have Elizabethtown lose to either Moravian (9-13, 5-7 MAC CC) or Juniata in its remaining two games. The Blue Jays have the tiebreaker over the Crusaders by virtue of their season sweep. Regardless of the playoffs, the Crusaders need at least one more win to secure their ninth winning season in the 11 years under Marcinek.
Juniata is under the direction of Marcinek’s assistant coach for his first seven years in 1985 Susquehanna graduate Rick Ferry (17-77, .181), who is now in his fourth season at the Eagle helm. While Ferry has just one win in his first seven tries vs. his alma mater, his Eagles took the Crusaders to overtime before falling, 70-67, on January 19.
Prior to Wednesday’s Senior Recognition Night game, the Crusaders will honor the four senior members of the team playing in their final home games in Rob Makarewicz (Sugarloaf/Hazleton Area H.S.), forward Adam Ressler (Robesonia/Conrad Weiser H.S.), guard Garrett Thompson (Harrisburg/Central Dauphin East H.S.), and guard Talmus Williams (Chester/Christian Academy).
Albright is back on top of the MAC Commonwealth standings and tied for third in the latest NCAA Division III Middle Atlantic Region poll under fifth-year coach Ken Tyler (68-52, .566). The Lions were upset at Susquehanna, 60-58, on January 22, but had won their previous five games vs. the Crusaders before that loss.
THE MEN’S REPORT
Makarewicz is the WQSU-FM Crusader Men’s Basketball Player of the Week for the third time this season as he averaged 18.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 4.0 steals in a pair of tough losses last week. He has hit double figures in 21-straight games and is now 34 points shy of becoming the program’s 27th 1,000-point scorer. The co-captain continues to lead the team in scoring (17.5 ppg), free throw percentage (85.9%, 85 of 99) and steals (44/2.0 per game) — ranking fourth, second and third respectively in the Commonwealth Conference.
Junior two-guard Mike Witcoskie (9.0 ppg) (Annville/Palmyra H.S.) also had a nice week — averaging 16.5 points while shooting 57.1 percent from three-point range (8 of 14) as he cracked the lineup for the second time this season with a start Saturday at Elizabethtown. He tied his career high with five treys vs. Leb Valley and continues to be the team’s top three-point shooter (45 of 101, 42.6%). He is third in the conference in three-point percentage, and fourth in per-game average (2.0).
Thompson (7.0 ppg, 3.3 rpg) had started the team’s first 21 games this season before Saturday, but continues to be one of its defensive leaders. A transfer from the Division I University of Delaware, Thompson has played in 43 games at Susquehanna — starting 33 — and has scored 250 points (5.8 ppg) while grabbing 118 rebounds (2.7 per game).
The 6-2 Ressler (2.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg) got his first start of the season at Elizabethtown, but has been primarily a key reserve in the team’s full-court press off the bench. Despite averaging just 10 minutes per game, he is fourth on the squad in steals with 27 (1.5 per game). He has played in 30 varsity games at Susquehanna, starting three.
Williams (0.2 ppg) has been a reserve guard during his Crusader, appearing in 15 varsity games.
THE WOMEN’S REPORT
Junior center and tri-captain Leslie Clementoni (Hughesville/Hughesville H.S.) is the team’s WQSU-FM Player of the Week for the third-straight week — and fourth time in five weeks — averaging 20.0 points and 7.7 rebounds while shooting 56.8 percent from the field (21 of 37) and 85.7 percent from the line (18 of 21) in last week’s three contests. Clementoni had a game high 20 points and 13 rebounds in last Tuesday’s win over Lebanon Valley, and also scored a game high 24 points Saturday night at Elizabethtown. She has now scored in double figures in 20-straight games and had eight double-doubles while having a breakout year since replacing the injured Kern (26.2 ppg, 13.2 rpg). Clementoni now leads the team in both scoring (15.3 ppg) and rebounding (8.5 per game) — ranking fourth and tied for second in the Commonwealth Conference respectively..
Sophomore small forward Amy Harrington (Danville/Danville H.S.) also came up with 18 points in the Lebanon Valley win, but still lost her spot as the team’s leading scorer during the week — now trailing Clementoni by two points (15.2 ppg). The school record-holder in three-point field goals for a season (now 38 of 123, 30.9%), Harrington leads the team in foul shooting (80.4%, 82 of 102). She is fifth in the conference in both scoring and foul shooting.
With Kern’s injury, Stack is the lone active senior on the squad and also had a big game in the Lebanon Valley game with 14 points. She is the program’s record holder in career three-pointers (now 53 out of 154, 34.4%), and is the most accurate three-point shooter this season (34.4%, 21 of 61). A starter for at least five games in each of her collegiate seasons, Stack has played in 94 career games at Susquehanna — starting 52 — and scored 499 points (5.3 ppg).
