The 'College Sports Notebook' is published each Friday. Please send items of interest—including local athletes competing at out-of-town colleges—to marcmaturo@aol.com.
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Walker, Bonnies continue to roll
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Sophomore CeCe Dixon of Queens and junior Alaina Walker of Pomona each finished with career-high 18-point performances as the St. Bonaventure women’s basketball team defeated Sacred Heart (9-4), 67-63, for a program-record 13th non-conference victory.
The Bonnies (13-2) trailed 46-45 with 12 minutes left, before taking command behind Walker, who posted 14 points in the second half, and also tied her career high with eight free throws, missing just one.
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Grossbard on target
Junior guard Matt Grossbard of Pearl River is back in action on Jan. 7 as the Roger Williams University men’s basketball team hosts the University of New England in Bristol, RI, at 3 p.m.
Grossbard is coming off a career-high 28-point effort as the Hawks (5-4) upended Wells College (4-6) in the consolation game of the Sig Makofski Tournament at the Viniear Athletic Center on the campus of Union College, earning tournament MVP accolades.
Grossbard, who is leading the team in scoring at 11.9 points per game, and in assists with 3.7 per game, had help from center Pat Flanagan of Somerville, MA, with 12 points and 10 rebounds.
A one-time Pearl River and Rockland County player of the year, Grossbard was Commonwealth Coast Conference player of the week before the holiday break.
Roger Williams University will be in action on Jan. 10 at Curry College in Weston, MA, for an 8 p.m. contest.
Spartans prevail in thriller
Omar Kellman, a sophomore forward from the Bronx, exploded with career highs of 26 points and 16 rebounds and James Ockimey of Uniondale, a junior guard, added a career high of his own with 22 points to lead the St. Thomas Aquinas College men’s basketball team to a 76-73 win at Molloy in a wild contest at Quealy Gymnasium.
Junior guard Justin Brown of Queens kicked in with 20 points and eight boards to offset Molloy’s John Petrucelli, who recorded a game-high 30 points while teammate Jimmy Nolan added 24.
The victory was the Spartans' second straight and improved their overall record to 4-7, 1-2 in East Coast Conference play, while the host Lions slipped to 4-9, 1-2.
Thanks largely to Kellman’s prowess on the glass, the Spartans enjoyed a decisive 48-33 rebounding margin. The Lions stayed close thanks to their impressive 88 percent foul shooting (27-of-32) while STAC was a solid 75 percent (18-of-24) from the stripe.
The Spartans return to Aquinas Hall in Sparkill to face Dowling College in a twin-bill with the women’s team on Jan. 11. The women open play at 5:30 p.m., followed by the men’s game at approximately 7:30.
Full speed ahead
Catherine Sandkuhl of North Babylon, just one member of a top-notch freshmen group, set a school record in the 400-meter run to lead the St. Thomas Aquinas College women’s track and field team at the Harvard Open in Boston, MA.
Sandkuhl clocked 1:01.22 to place eighth overall out of 54 competitors with her early-season personal best.
Sophomore Keeley Bateman of Pearl River ran her first 800 meters of the season and was timed in 2:23.71m which took ninth overall in a field of 34.
Other notable performances for Coach Lorne Marcus were recorded by the strong freshmen class.
Kaitlyn Mancini of Long Island improved on her own school record in the 60-meter dash with a time of 8.37, and ran the 200 in 27.76 which placed her 35th out of 103.
Ashley Stokkeland of Warwick ran her first career 400-meter dash in a time of 1:03.27 which took 26th overall in the competition.
In the 3,000-meter run Katelyn Garvey of Pearl River turned in a very-respectable time of 11:42.29.
Eagles fly west
Sophomore Uditinder Thakur of Valley Cottage is out West with the American University wrestling team.
The Eagles, coming off a 14th-place showing at the 42-team Midlands Championship in Evanston, IL, are scheduled to meet Cal Poly in San Luis Obispo, CA, and then visit Stanford on Jan. 8.
Thakur, competing at 141 pounds, is 1-4 this season with his victory coming by majority decision. The Nyack High alum is 6-12 in his collegiate career at the Washington, D.C. University.
Still looking
The Nyack College men’s basketball team, still looking for its first win of the season, fell to 0-14 on the season after losing to host Bloomfield (NJ) College, 93-53.
The Warriors, 0-4 in the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference, were led by sophomore guard Jose Pena-Benjamin of Rahway, NJ, who had 10 points, and Maliek Patterson of Brooklyn, a freshman forward who pulled down a team-leading 10 rebounds in defeat.
Nyack College goes back to work on Jan. 12 when the Warriors host Post at 8 p.m.
STAC back, bows
The women’s basketball team at St. Thomas Aquinas College came off a long holiday break and fell to Pace University in Pleasantville, 60-56, despite a team-high 24 points by Briana Sloper of Williston Park.
Briana Cook of Paterson, NJ, added 13 points as the Lady Spartans dropped their second straight.
Senior guard Carol Johnson of New City was off her game for the Setters, making one of 10 attempts from the floor and finishing with four points. But the Cardinal Spellman graduate led the team with six assists.
STAC (7-5) returns to Aquinas Hall to face Dowling College in a twin-bill with the men's team on Jan. 11. The women’s game is set for 5:30 p.m., followed by the men’s game at 7:30.
Snap, crackle, pop
Junior Bianca Harris of Teaneck, NJ scored 10 points and pulled down five rebound, but the Dominican College women’s basketball team had a four-game winning streak snapped, losing to Southern Connecticut State University, 70-32, in a non-conference game at the Moore Field House in New Haven, CT.
Senior guard Samantha Klunk of York, PA, and sophomore forward K.C. Jentzen of Pearl River, a Nanuet alumna, each scored six points for the Lady Chargers, who shot just 13 of 43 from the field and dropped to 4-5 overall on the season.
Dominican is hoping to start a new winning streak at home in Orangeburg on Jan. 10 against Bloomfield (NJ) College, and then travels to Bronxville on Jan. 18 for a game at 5:30 p.m. against Bronxville.
Dominican charges to memorable victory
The Dominican College men’s basketball team closed out the sixth annual James Clancy Memorial Tournament with a 55-52 victory over Queens on Coach Baxter Court at the Hennessy Center in Orangeburg.
Dominican went 2-0; in the consolation game, Dowling College defeated Post University, 63-57, behind a 17-point effort by Michael Hill.
The Chargers led by as many as seven points three times during the first period. A layup by center Cory Quimby of Otisville, who had the game’s only double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds, put Dominican ahead 22-15 with 4:59 to go and the host held on to a 23-22 advantage at the break.
The Knights came back in the second half and held a 48-44 lead with 5:01 left in regulation, but the Chargers charged back with an 8-2 run with four points coming from Quimby and four from Leon Porter II of Laurel, MD, to re-claim a 52-50 lead with 1:14 on the clock.
Queens tied the score at 52-52 on two free throws with 46 second left, but sophomore guard Khaleev Ginyard of Brentwood hit the game-winning 3 off a pass from Johhathan Brown of Central Islip for the final.
Brown finished with seven points, while Porter had a team leading five assists in the victory.
The Chargers (8-4) are back in action on Jan. 18 when Coach Joe Clinton’s club travels to Bronxville for a game at 7 p.m. against Concordia College.
