SELINSGROVE, Pa. — The 11-4 Susquehanna University men's basketball team had little time to celebrate Saturday's 60-58 upset of Albright — the number-one ranked team in last week's NCAA Division III Middle Atlantic Region poll which and undefeated leader in the MAC Commonwealth Conference prior to Saturday. That's because Monday the Crusaders will host a 10-4 University of Scranton squad which is riding a season high seven-game win streak and moved into a first-place tie in the MAC Freedom Conference with Saturday's 91-61 rout of previous leader King's.
Honorable Mention in this week's region poll, Susquehanna has already surpassed its win total for all of last season (9-14) — presently at 11-4 after winning seven of its last eight games. The Crusaders moved into a three-way tie for second in the MAC Commonwealth Conference at 5-2 with Saturday's win. Going into the second half of conference play, the Crusaders have the tiebreaking edge by virtue of the lone win over the MAC Commonwealth leader in Albright. Eleventh-year head coach Frank Marcinek has the best winning percentage among the program's coaches at .586 (157-111) and has been relatively successful against Scranton's storied program — posting a 6-8 (.429) mark.
Red hot Scranton could make its case to crack the regional rankings with a win Monday — ending a two-game losing streak at O.W. Houts Gymnasium in the process. Legendary 28th-year head coach BobBessoir is one of the true deans of Division III men's basketball coaching — ranking fifth among active coaches in wins and 29th in winning percentage with his record of 531-245 (.684). That slate includes a pair of Division III national championships (1976, 83) and three Final Four appearances (1976, 83, 88). He returns four starters and 12 letterwinners from a team which ended a three-game losing streak to Susquehanna (88-71) and went 19-7 to finish second in the Freedom League last year.
SCOUTING THE CRUSADERS: Senior guard and co-captain Rob Makarewicz (Sugarloaf/Hazleton Area H.S.) continues to lead the team in both scoring (16.6 ppg) and foul shooting (86.9%, 53 of 61), also topping the MAC Commonwealth in foul shooting. A second-team league All-Star in 1997-98, he is the team's second-leading three-point shooter (28 of 76/36.8%) and has now scored in double figures in 14-straight games — only failing to hit double digits in the opener this season. Sophomore small forward Corey Green (Roselle, N.J./Roselle Catholic H.S.) led the team in its two wins last week — averaging 18.5 points and 6.5 rebounds to pick up the WQSU-FM Crusader Men's Basketball Player of the Week. He is second on the team in both scoring (11.6 ppg) and rebounding (7.1 per game). After not making a three-pointer in the first 30 collegiate games, Green has now gone 13 of 30 (43.3%) in the last five contests. Junior power forward Brad Rausch (9.4 ppg) (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South H.S.) is the team's leading rebounder, ranking second in the Commonwealth Conference (now 7.8 per game). Off the bench, junior guard John Green (8.9 ppg) (Reading/Governor Mifflin H.S.) has stepped up his play, averaging 10.5 points in last week's two wins. Green had the driving layup with :05 left in regulation at Juniata to send that game to overtime. He tops the team in assists (2.7 per game).
SCOUTING THE ROYALS: While Scranton's lone starter lost to graduation was two-time MAC Freedom scoring champ Jason Fisher (21.0 ppg), the Royals have plenty of firepower with four starters averaging in double figures. Returning second-team MAC Freedom All-Star and junior point guard Al Callejas leads the Royal scorers (15.7 ppg), and tops the MAC and is tied for second in Division III free throw percentage at 94.0 percent (47 of 50). Callejas also leads the conference and is fifth in the nation in three-point percentage at 57.4 percent (35 of 61), ranking second in the Freedon Conference in assists (4.1 per game). Senior small forward Henry Condron is right behind Callejas in scoring (14.9 ppg), and had a game high 24 in last season's win over Susquehanna. Senior two-guard Mike Reno (10.8 ppg) had 20 in that game, along with five steals. Reno is third in MAC Freedom free throw percentage, now at 87.2 (34 of 39). Six-foot-seven freshman center Derek Elphick rounds out the Royal double-digit scoring averages (10.1 ppg) after scoring a season high 24 in the King's win Saturday. He also leads the team and is fifth in the Freedom Conference in rebounding (7.1 per game).
