Colts held off the Hawks of Rockland County for an 8-point victory.

Middletown N.Y -  In their first game back from the Thanksgiving break the Colts enter the month of December as the #1 seed in the Region XV Standings. Entering the game both teams held an undefeated record of 3-0 in conference play but there can only be one victor with the Colts coming away victorious by a score of 99-91. In the victory over the Hawks the Colts shot a season high 84% from the free throw line and finished with a game high in points. 

To this start of this highly anticipated match-up the Hawks were the ones to put the first points on the board getting back to back baskets in a 10 second interval that was until So. Jabari Phillip bullied his way inside to give the Colts their first basket of the game coming off an easy layup. The whole first half was a back and fourth affair between with both teams finding ways to score fastbreak points and after the first five minutes the Colts found themselves trailing 14-11 causing coach Rickard to call his first timeout of the game. The Colts earned their first lead of the game by a score of 17-16 coming off a Marquis Gill signature fadeaway jumpshot with just under 13 minutes left in the first half, the Colts were able to maintain their lead and force the Hawks to take their first timeout of the game with 10:49 remaining. Coming out of the timeout the Colts were firing on all cylinders and outscored the Hawks 17-7 with 4:39 left in the half the Colts had a score of 42-27 but unfortunately was not enough to ward off the Hawks as they outscored SUNY Orange 17-10 to close out the firs half with a score of 52-44. In the first half the Colts found themselves trailing but managed to gain control and maintain their lead for the remainder of the half scoring a team high of 52 points, the highest points scored in one half by the Colts this season. 

To open up the first half the Colts were the first to score coming from a wide open Marquis Gill three pointer coming off a great pass from Daniel Lans, followed by the relentless defensive pressure forcing their opponent to throw a bad pass right to Daniel Lans to drove the lane for an acrobatic layup. The Colts managed to score the games first three baskets of the second half forcing the Hawks to call their first timeout of the second half after just two minutes of play with a score of 59-44 the Colts lead. Much like the first half both teams wanted to walk away with the victory with neither team showing any signs of letting up. With just over three minutes remaining in the whole game the Colts had a 15 point lead with a 95-80 score and looked as if the win as their as the looked to make no mistakes on their end and finish the game with a win. Doing just that as it came down to the wire as the Colts were able to come away with the eight point victory over the Hawks by a score of 99-91 thanks to a phenomenal first half of scoring the Colts were able to come away with their eighth win of the year giving them a 8-1 record through their first nine games. With this victory over the Hawks the Colts are #1 in the 2024-25 Region 15 Men's Basketball Standings, after winning their last four games the Colts will look to continue their success with just two games left in 2024 they will look to go into the New Year with a win-streak.

 The Colts have a well deserved break as their next game will be against the Borough Of Manhattan Community College Panthers on Tuesday Dec. 10th for a 7PM tipoff. 

Top Performers

So. Guard #1 Marquis Gill led the Colts in points scored, and free throws made. Gill finished the game with 26 points shooting 6/13 from the field and 4/9 from behind the three point arc while also notching a new season high in points. Gill shot a perfect 10-10 from the free throw line while also adding with five assists, five rebounds and four steals to his long night. For the first time since Nov 18th 2023 Marquis Gill finished the game as the only athlete to not step off the court playing the full 40 minutes being the first Colt this season to this season.

So. Forward Mathew Shea also had a fantastic game recording his second consecutive double-double. Shea finished the game with 17 points on 6-11 from the field while shooting 2-3 from behind the three point arc and 3-5 from the foul line. Shea also recorded a team high 10 rebounds while also dishing out three assists, having the teams only block and coming away with a steal.

So. Guard Daniel Lans led the team in multiple categories, finishing with just 16 points scored on 6-9 shooting. Lans more than made up for his work on the offensive and defensive end as Lans had eight assists and five steals leading the Colts in other ways than scoring the ball.