Colts vs Vikings of Westchester

-Middletown NY,

Going into this game, Coach Tom Rickard had a record of 249 wins and 98 losses over his 12 years as the Men's Basketball Head Coach. 

In his 12 seasons as the Men's Head Coach, he has led his team to three Mid-Hudson Conference Titles, a District Title, an NJCAA Final Four and has collected three Region XV coach of the year awards.  Tom has coached numerous All-Conference and All-Region players, as well as an NJCAA Division II player of the year.

Prior to his tenure as head coach, Tom was an assistant coach for his father Paul for seven years, being named Associate Head Coach in 2005-2006. That year the Colts advanced to the NJCAA Division II National Tournament for the first time in school history. 

This game was much like their first match up back in November with the first five minutes of the game being a back and fourth affair with both teams finding success on the offensive end. In the first 10 minutes of the game, their were eight lead changes and multiple ties before Westchester went on a scoring run giving the SUNY Orange Colts their largest deficit of the night with 8:30 left in the first half with the score at 18 - 27. The Colts rallied back and were able to cut the deficit to three points in just over five minutes of play.  The Colts took the lead with 1:30 left to play in the half after a Kassius Paulin corner three pointer coming off an assist from Daniel Lans to make the score 37-36. The Colts finished the first half leading the Vikings 42-39. 

The second half began much like the first half with neither team able to pull away from the other.  The Colts forced the Vikings to call their first timeout of the second half after falling behind 51-44. The Colts relied on their aggressive defense to force missed shots and create fast break opportunities on the other end of the court.  With under 10 minutes left in the game, SUNY Orange found themselves leading 71-63 and were able to close out the game, securing the win and finishing 2-0 against the Vikings for the regular season. 

With the victory, Orange secured their 21st win of the season and Coach Rickard became just the 2nd Men's Basketball Coach to reach 250 wins at Orange. 

The Colts will look to continue their win streak as they travel to Ulster County on Thursday Feb. 13th @ 7:00 PM

-Top Performers-

So. #1 Marquis Gill led the way for the Colts scoring 29 points and finishing 8-8 from the free throw line. Gill now has five consecutive games without a missed free throw as he is 21-21 over that span.  Gill also finished with four rebounds and six assists.  

So. #3 Daniel Lans led the way in Assists and Steals while being the only Colt to record a block. Finishing with 22 points on 10-18 shooting, Lans added two blocks, five rebounds, seven steals and eight assists for his fourth 5X5 on the season.

So. #24 Mathew Shea led in rebounds for the game as he finished with a career high 18. Shea finished the game with 13 points, 18 rebounds, three assists and one steal. With this double-double Mat Shea now has 10 games finishing with 10+ Points and/ or Rebounds.