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SUNY Orange Punches Ticket To NJCAA DII Men’s Championship For First Time Since 2006
Posted: Mar 04, 2023

SUNY Orange Punches Ticket To NJCAA DII Men’s Championship For First Time Since 2006

Loch Sheldrake, New York - The SUNY Orange men's basketball team fought off a strong second-half rally from Raritan Valley C.C. punch their ticket to the 2023 NJCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship in Danville, Illinois, with a gritty 79-76 victory. The Colts improve to 29-1 on the season and are going dancing for the first time in 17 years since Head Coach Tom Rickard's dad Paul was patrolling the sidelines.

SUNY Orange got the clutch scoring where they needed it with five player scoring in double figures, including four of the five starters led by an outstanding effort off the bench with George Patsalos leading all scorers and rebounders with a team-high 17 points and a career-high 20 rebounds. Sophomore Darius Boben dished out a team-high four assists and scored 16 points, while classmate Kevin Stein chipped in with 15 points. Fellow sophomores Keon Gill and Romeo Aquino contributed 14 and 11 points, while classmate Tim Linton turned away a team-best four shots. 

Aquino, 2023 Region XV Player of the Year, missed his team-leading 19th double-double by one rebound with nine rebounds and joined Stein and Linton with nine rebounds apiece and Patsalos with three blocks apiece. Linton and Gill also snatched a team-best two steals.

After Orange County Community College went into the halftime break with a 37-32 lead Raritan Valley C.C. outscored them 44-42 in the second half, but the Colts were still able to hold them off for a 79-76 victory.

The Colts will enjoy this one for two weeks before discovering their seed and opponent for the 2023 NJCAA Division II Men's Basketball Championship on the NJCAA selection show on March 14th at 2 p.m. by clicking here.