2011 Comfort Inn Doc Greene Invitational
Friday, Dec. 9
5:30 pm - New Jersey City Univ. (6-0, 1-0 NJAC) vs. Ithaca College (2-5, 0-0 Empire 8)
7:30 pm - Juniata (6-2, 1-0 Landmark) vs. Penn State Mont Alto (3-5, 2-2 PSUAC)
Saturday, Dec. 10
2:00 pm - Consolation
4:00 pm - Championship
HUNTINGDON, Pa. – Juniata College's Kennedy Sports + Recreation Center will be the site for some high-caliber Division III men's basketball games this Friday and Saturday, as the Eagles host the 2011 Comfort Inn Doc Greene Invitational men's basketball tournament.
The Eagles bring a 6-2 record into the Doc Greene Invitational, and will face Penn State Mont Alto in Friday's first round at 7:30 p.m. Friday's early game, which tips-off at 5:30 p.m., will feature undefeated New Jersey City University (6-0) against Ithaca College (2-5). New Jersey City, defending 2011 New Jersey Athletic Conference champions and NCAA tournament participants, are receiving votes in this year's D3hoops.com Top 25 poll.
Saturday's schedule will have a consolation game at 2:00 p.m., followed by the championship game at 4:00 p.m.
Paced by senior guard Dan Sekulski's (Douglassville, Pa./Daniel Boone Area) 12.9 points and 5.3 rebounds, the Eagles will be trying to regain the Doc Greene Invitational championship after falling to Salisbury University, 71-65, in last year's championship game. Juniata boasts the Landmark Conference's fourth-ranked offense (73.1 ppg) and second-rated defense (68.9 ppg), as well as the league's 10th-ranked scorer in Sekulski, and its seventh-ranked rebounder in Nate Higgins (St. Mary's, Pa./Elk County Catholic) with 6.8 rpg.
Guiding the offense is point guard Alex Raymond, who averages 3.50 assists per game; he is ranked second in the Landmark in that category, trailing only Eagle guard Jeremy Hays with 3.88 assists per game.
New Jersey City is coming off a 76-70 win over York College of New York on Monday night, and had a game against Lehman College, scheduled for Wednesday night, postponed.
The Gothic Knights have three players averaging well into double figures, led by Kalhrique Irick with 15.8 ppg. Walik Albright and Keith Williams are chipping in with 13.2 and 12.0 points respectively, pacing a NJCU offense that is averaging 72.6 points per contest while shooting .447 from the field. The Gothic Knights have controlled the boards against their opponents to date, and have a +9.2 rebounding margin.
Ithaca College has struggled to a 2-5 start to the 2011-12 campaign, but are coming off an 89-80 win over St. Lawrence University on Friday night – their final outing prior to this weekend's Doc Greene Invitational. Guard Andrei Oztemel netted a career high 36 points in the win over the Saints, boosting his season average to 17.6 ppg. Oztemel has been shooting at a .480 clip from the field, including a .463 mark from 3-point range.
Rounding out the Bombers offensively is Frank Mitchell with 16.1 ppg and a team-high 8.3 rpg, while Jordan Marcus has tallied 13.9 ppg including 20 3-pointers. Playmaker Sean Rossi has been dishing out 7.7 assists per game, to go with his 7.6 points.
Penn State Mont Alto has a 3-5 record, coming off Tuesday night's 67-54 win over Penn State Schuylkill. The win halted the Lions' five-game winless streak, after opening the season with a pair of wins. Jeffrey Bowie had a game-high 16 points off the bench, leading a quartet of Mont Alto players in double-digits. Tyree Maeser chipped in with 13, while Cameron Bowen and Daniel Smay had 11 each.
Bowie paces Mont Alto with 12.0 ppg, while Jeremiah Mitchell averages 10.2 ppg. Xavier Montague dishes out an average of 4.13 assists per game, while Maeser averages 2.63 steals to go with 7.6 ppg.
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