SELINSGROVE, Pa. — Two of the top men’s basketball teams in both the NCAA Division III Middle Atlantic Region and the MAC Commonwealth Conference will clash Saturday when Albright College visits Susquehanna University for the 3 p.m. games of a women’s/men’s doubleheader.
Under fifth-year head coach Ken Tyler (62-50, .554), the Lions are ranked first in this week’s Middle Atlantic Region poll. They are riding a five-game win streak which has them now at 11-2 overall, 6-0 and in sole possession of first place in the MAC Commonwealth Conference. Albright has won its last five games vs. Susquehanna and is 6-2 vs. the Crusaders since Tyler became head coach.
Honorable Mention in this week’s region poll, Susquehanna has already surpassed its win total for all of last season (9-14) — presently at 10-4 after winning six of its last seven games. The Crusaders saw their five-game win streak get snapped at home last Saturday by Elizabethtown (56-58), but avoided back-to-back losses by rallying from a 10-point second half deficit for an overtime win at Juniata (70-67) Wednesday — improving to 4-2 and tied for third in the Commonwealth Conference standings. Eleventh-year head coach Frank Marcinek has the best winning percentage among men’s basketball coaches at the school at .584 (156-111), but is just 9-11 (.450) during his career vs. Albright.
The Crusader basketball teams will offer free admission to all youth basketball players, high school-aged and younger, along with their coaches and parents for Saturday’s big Albright Youth Basketball Day doubleheader. They will also have some area youth basketball teams scrimmage at halftime of each game. The women will tip-off at 1 p.m.
SCOUTING THE CRUSADERS: Senior guard and co-captain Rob Makarewicz (Sugarloaf/Hazleton Area H.S.) continues to lead the team in both scoring (16.9 ppg) and foul shooting (86.4%, 51 of 59), also topping the Commonwealth Conference in free throw percentage. A second-team league All-Star in 1997-98, he is the team’s second-leading three-point shooter (25 of 70/35.7%) and has now scored in double figures in 13-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 with 23 points at Juniata while hitting double figures for a fourth-straight game, and fifth time in six contests. He is second on the team in both scoring (11.4 ppg) and rebounding (7.4 per game). After not making a three-pointer in the first 30 collegiate games, Green has now gone 12 of 25 (48.0%) in the last four contests. Junior power forward Brad Rausch (Middletown, N.J./Middletown South H.S.) is the team’s leading rebounder, ranking second in the Commonwealth Conference (now 7.9 per game). He is also second on the team in field goal percentage (51.5%, 51 of 99), and tied for second in steals (1.3 per game). Off the bench, junior guard John Green (8.8 ppg) (Reading/Governor Mifflin H.S.) has stepped up his play, scoring 11 in the Juniata win including the driving layup with :05 left in regulation to send it to overtime. Green tops the team in assists (2.8 per game). Six-foot-six sophomore center Stephan Schrankel (Holmdel, N.J./Holmdel H.S.) (3.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg) also had a game high 11 boards at Juniata.
SCOUTING THE LIONS: The senior duo of point guard Shawn Swavely and two-guard James Drewry form arguably the MAC’s best backcourt, and have been Crusader killers during their careers — with Swavely averaging 22.0 points and Drewry 16.2 in their six games vs. Susquehanna. A first-team MAC Commonwealth All-Star the last two seasons, Swavely tops the team and is third in the conference in both scoring (19.2 ppg) and three-point field goals per game (now 25 of 66/1.9 per game), also shooting 81.1 percent (60 of 74) from the line. Drewry was a first-team All-Star in 1997-98, but bothered by a broken foot last season. He’s returned to form this year to average 16.4 points per game, ranking third in conference free throw percentage with a team high 83.3 (40 of 48). Inside, 6-8 junior center Mark Moritz (9.6 ppg) is the conference rebounding leader (8.1 per game). He had 19 points and nine boards vs. the Crusaders during a 78-70 win in Reading last season. Six-foot-10 junior power forward Terence Skyrm (10.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg) is the newcomer this season to the lineup.
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