SELINSGROVE, Pa. — The Susquehanna University men’s basketball team will return to action after a month layoff this Thursday, January 6, at 7:30 p.m., hosting a Franklin & Marshall College team which is ranked 10th in the latest Division III national poll by D3hoops.com and among the 10 teams in the NCAA Division III Middle Atlantic Region early season recognition rankings. This will be the Diplomats first trip to Selinsgrove for a game since being routed by Susquehanna, 80-46, on February 24, 1962.
The Diplomats are much stronger this season than they were in 1962, coming off the championship of their own Lancaster Rotary Tip Off The New Year Tournament Monday with a 92-79 win over Lincoln to get to 9-1 record for famed 29th-year head coach Glenn Robinson. The team returns four starters and 11 letterwinners from last season’s 22-5 Centennial Conference West Division championship squad, which advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. It was Frankllin & Marshall’s 17th trip to the NCAA Tournament, with all of them coming under Robinson. Susquehanna has split its four meetings with the Diplomats in the NCAA Tournament, although it is trying to end a string of six-straight losses to F&M, including an 87-65 loss in Lancaster last January. Franklin & Marshall has a 24-9 lead (.727) in the all-time series.
The Crusaders appear much improved this season under 11th-year head coach Frank Marcinek, presently at 5-3 overall, 2-1 and in fourth in the MAC Commonwealth Conference after starting just 2-6, 1-2 in the conference at this point a year ago. Susquehanna scored an impressive 71-52 rout at Moravian on December 8 in its last game before the long layoff. Improved rebounding and defense have keyed the Crusader improvement thus far as they are outrebounding their opponents by a whopping 12.5 per game (41.9 to 29.4), while holding them to a 63.9-point average on just 41.7 percent shooting from the field. During last season’s 9-14 campaign, the Crusaders were outrebounded by an average margin of 6.7 per game while giving up 79.5 points on 46.2 percent shooting from the field.
THE COACHES: Robinson is among the top 10 of all NCAA Division III coaches (active and retired) with his 564-208 record (.731). His teams have averaged 19.9 wins per season and have competed in the NCAA Tournament in 12 of the last 14 years — seeing its string of 11-straight NCAA Tournament appearances end in 1996-97. While guiding the program to its 17 NCAA Tournament appearances, he has had the Diplomats nationally ranked in 22 of the past 24 seasons. Marcinek is also the most successful coach in Crusader basketball history, presently at 151-110 (.579) while guiding his team to winning seasons in all but two of his first 10 seasons and a pair of NCAA Tournament berths. The Susquehanna coach will be seeking his first win over the Diplomats, dropping his first five attempts.
THE CRUSADER BACKCOURT: Senior guard and co-captain Rob Makarewicz (Sugarloaf/Hazleton Area H.S.) equaled a career high by connecting on five three-pointers while scoring a season high 22 points in Susquehanna’s last win at Moravian. Makarewicz was 5 of 8 from beyond the three-point arc, and 8 of 12 from the field, also making three steals in the game. The team scoring leader (15.5 ppg) while starting at the point guard position but seeing time at both guard spots, Makarewicz is now shooting 42.6 percent from three point range (20 of 47) and ranks second in the MAC Commonwealth Conference. He appears to like shooting better away from home best as he is averaging 20 points on 13 of
of 21 (61.9%) shooting from three-point range, as opposed to a 12.8-point average on just 7 of 26 shooting (26.9%) from beyond the arc at home. The team leader in free throw percentage who is second in the conference at 88.9 percent (24 of 27), Makarewicz was a second-team MAC Commonwealth All-Star in 1997-98.
Fellow senior co-captain and starting two-guard Garrett Thompson (6.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg) (Harrisburg/Central Dauphin East H.S.) is probably the team’s top defender and usually matches up with the opposing team’s top offensive threat.
Juniors John Green (Reading/Governor Mifflin H.S.) and Mike Witcoskie (Annville/Palmyra H.S.) have been providing sparks off the bench in the backcourt.
The team’s quickest guard, and probably one of the quickest in the conference, Green (8.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg) scored in double figures for a fourth-straight game as he posted 11 points at Moravian. He also had four rebounds, four steals and three assists in that game, allowing him to take over the team assist lead (2.5 per game) while tying for second in steals (1.4 per game).
Witcoskie is both the team and MAC Commonwealth leader in three-pointers, hitting 21 of 43 (48.8%) to lead the conference in per-game average (2.6) while ranking second in percentage. His long-range efficiency has made him second on the team in scoring (11.6 ppg). He had eight points in the Moravian win, canning 2 of 3 treys while going 3 for 4 from the field. Witcoskie is doing all his scoring while playing just a little over 20 minutes per game (20.5).
THE DIPLOMAT BACKCOURT: Six-foot-two senior swingman Jerome Maiatico was a 1997-98 first-team Centennial Conference All-Star who has actually returned to the starting position he held that season. Maiatico missed the first five games last season while he studied abroad in Italy, but came back to still be the squad’s top player off the bench and was one of four players averaging in double figures (10.2 ppg). Presently the team leader in scoring (13.2 ppg) and three-point shooting (19 of 45, 48.2%), Maiatico was named to the All-Tournament Team Monday at the Lancaster Rotary Tournament. He scored 32 points (16.0 ppg) in the team’s two tourney wins, including a season high 22 in the opening round 92-66 win over Medaille.
Senior co-captain and 6-3 swingman Mike Ritacco was Most Valuable Player of the tournament as he scored a game high 23 points in Monday’s 92-79 win over Lincoln in the Championship Game. Ritacco led a group of six Diplomat players in double figures in that game, going 8 of 12 from the field and 7 for 7 from the line while pulling down a season best seven rebounds. A three-year letterwinner and returning starter at wing, Ritacco is third on the team in scoring (12.6 ppg) while leading it in free throw shooting at 87.1 percent (27 of 31).
While Maiatico and Ritacco are the backcourt leaders at the wings, the Diplomats took a backcourt hit this week as senior starting point guard Mark Sadowski (5.8 ppg, 2.4 apg) injured his hand and is out for the week. Sadowski is a three-year starter at the point and led the Centennial Conference in assists per game last season (4.0 per game). He had five assists and just three turnovers in 29 minutes against the Crusader press in last season’s win.
Six-foot sophomore Matt McCuen (3.1 ppg, 1.8 apg) has replaced Sadowski in the lineup at the point, but had just two points, an assist and a turnover in 19 minutes of Monday’s title game. Five-foot-nine sophomore Maurice Dozier played the other 21 minutes at point Monday and had seven points with an assist and four turnovers.
THE CRUSADER FRONTCOURT: Six-foot-four sophomore small forward Corey Green (8.6 ppg) (Roselle, N.J./Roselle Catholic H.S.) had a solid nine-point, seven-rebound performance in the Moravian win. He is second on the team and is fifth in the MAC Commonwealth Conference in rebounding (8.3 per game) — ranking fourth on the team in scoring. He scored a career high 20 points at F&M last year.
Junior power forward Brad Rausch (9.3 ppg) (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South H.S.) has joined with Thompson as the team’s other leader on defense. Rausch tops the team in charges taken, and also continues to lead it in boards while ranking fourth in the conference (8.5 per game). Although his scoring average has dipped back under 10.0 points for the first time since the first game, he is still third on the squad in that area. He was a member of the MAC Commonwealth All-Rookie Team as a freshman.
Six-foot-eight freshman center Zigmas Kaknevicius (4.5 ppg, 4.4 rpg) (Lithuania/Long Island Lutheran H.S.) continues to improve with experience and leads the team in field goal percentage at 60.0 percent (15 of 25). Six-foot-six sophomore Stephan Schrankel (2.8 ppg, 3.0 rpg) (Holmdel, N.J./Holmdel H.S.) has also continued to provide quality minutes in the low post.
Six-foot-three senior Adam Ressler (2.0 ppg, 1.4 rpg) (Robesonia/Conrad Weiser H.S.) is also finding an emerging role off the bench, particularly in the team’s full-court press. A former national qualifier in the high jump in the spring, Ressler has played in each of the team’s last four games — including a season high 18 minutes at Moravian.
THE DIPLOMAT FRONTCOURT: Six-foot-five sophomore post player Alex Kraft was an Honorable Mention Preseason All-America by Street & Smith after leading the Diplomats in scoring (11.9 ppg), rebounding (7.0 per game), field goal percentage (53.6%) and three-point percentage (46.0%) last season. Those numbers earned Kraft second-team Centennial Conference All-Star honors in his rookie season. He had 17 points and 10 boards in the team’s win over Susquehanna last season. He once again leads the team in rebounding this season (5.7 per game), ranking second in scoring (12.8 ppg) and tied for second in field goal percentage (50.5%, 47 for 93). He had 14 in Monday’s championship game win.
Six-five junior Grant Sporny (4.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg) is the starter at power forward and started all 27 games there last season.
The Diplomats have an able bench up front in the forms of 6-5 sophomore Casimer Thomas (7.6 ppg, 3.5 rpg), 6-4 senior co-captain Dave Manzo (7.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg) and 6-5 junior Quinn Philbin (6.7 ppg, 4.4 rpg) at three, four and five respectively. Philbin had 12 points and seven rebounds off the bench in Monday’s win, while Thomas and Manzo eached chipped in with 11.
MARCINEK ON THE F&M GAME: “Playing a tough non-conference schedule helped us get ready for conference play during the first semester, and that’s the way we are approaching this game. We know F&M is a very formidable opponent. They are very well coached and execute very well. It will be nice to be playing them at home.”
ON THE AIR: Thursday’s game will be broadcast live on WQSU-FM, 88.9 on the FM dial, beginning with the pre-game show at 7:15 p.m. The remainder of WQSU’s second semester broadcast schedule follows.
WQSU-FM Second Semester Basketball Broadcast Schedule
