By John Boccacino/Sports Information Director
After completing the regular season with a 14-9 overall record (11-6 in the NEAC) to secure the No. 2 seed out of the NEAC's North Division, the Keuka College men's basketball team has already posted its winningest season in nearly a decade.
But the student-athletes have set higher goals for themselves, and they know a new season begins Tuesday night, when the Green and Gold host Cazenovia College (12-13, 10-7 NEAC) at 7 p.m. in a NEAC quarterfinal clash.
The Wolfpack swept the Wildcats in the regular season, winning 70-56 at Cazenovia (Jan. 10) and 73-69 at home Feb. 18.
Live stats and video from the quarterfinal can be found here. The quarterfinal is serving as a Black Out game, with fans encouraged to wear their black Wolfpack shirts to support the team.
In Tuesday's other quarterfinal, Gallaudet (D.C.) University (18-6, 14-4) hosts Penn State-Abington (9-16, 8-10).
The Keuka/Cazenovia winner advances to face No. 1 seed and NEAC regular-season champion Lancaster Bible College (23-2, 17-1) at 2 p.m. Saturday in the semifinals.
The Gallaudet/Penn State-Abington winner advances to play NEAC North champion SUNY Cobleskill (15-10, 13-4)
The NEAC championship is 2 p.m. Sunday, with the winner securing the NEAC's automatic qualifier into the NCAA Division III tournament.
Under fifth-year head coach Thad Phillips, the Wolfpack recorded the most wins in a season since the 2005-06 squad went 16-10.
Keuka College is led by seniors Trevor Healey (Wethersfield, Conn./Wethersfield), Tyler Hixson (Shortsville, N.Y./Red Jacket), Adam Starks (Wellsville, N.Y./Andover), Jared Wagner (Pittsford, N.Y./McQuaid) and Jeremy Crawford (Oakfield, N.Y./Oakfield-Alabama).
"These seniors are my first recruiting class here at Keuka, and during their careers we've transitioned as a program," Phillips said.
"When these seniors arrived on campus, the attitude was very much about themselves, and not so much the team mentality. We've worked hard and have made our program into a family mentality, where my student-athletes will do whatever it takes to be successful. As soon as our student-athletes focused on putting team successes ahead of the individual successes, that translated into more wins and more success on the court."
Healey, who leads the team in scoring average (17.5 ppg.), rebounding (8.1 rpg.) and field goal shooting (51.7 percent), recently became the 11th men's basketball player with 1,000 career points. He has scored in double-figures in 21 of 22 games, with nine double-doubles.
Hixson was third on the Wolfpack in both scoring average (9.6 ppg.) and rebounding (3.5 rpg.) while tying for the team lead in field goal percentage (51.7 percent). Hixson recorded 10 games scoring in double-figures, including a career-high 27 points on 66.7 percent shooting (10 of 15) during a 68-64 win over SUNY Polytechnic (Dec. 7).
Starks averaged 7.2 ppg. while connecting on a team-best 43.5 percent of his three-pointers, while Wagner averaged 6.4 ppg. and made 37 percent of his '3s'.
Junior Casey Williams (Syracuse, N.Y./Jamesville-DeWitt) has stepped up his game and is second on the team in both scoring (12.1 ppg.), rebounding (6.8 rpg.) and three-point shooting (39.1%).
The Wolfpack rank ninth in the NEAC in scoring offense (65.8 ppg.) and are fourth in scoring defense (65.1 ppg.).
"Getting into the NEAC tournament is great, and we all know that if we play our best basketball, we have a chance at winning NEAC's," said Healey, a two-time All-NEAC forward.
"We are always pushing each other to be the best that we can be, year-in and year-out. Sticking through all the tough times and not giving up in the tough times, that shows a lot about our character. Our hard work has really paid off and I love playing with my teammates."
Cazenovia, which ranks second in the NEAC in scoring offense (75.3 ppg.) features seven student-athletes averaging 7.2 ppg. or more.
Ryan Gavin leads the Wildcats in scoring (16.4 ppg.) and rebounding (11 rpg.), followed by Avery Wilmore (12.9 ppg.), Malik Adair-Mountain (10.6 ppg.), Brad LeFevre (10.1 ppg.), Keith Caiello (9 ppg.), Daniel Cunningham (8.4 ppg.) and Nate Hudson (7.2 ppg.).
The Wildcats allow an average of 75.6 ppg. on defense, good for ninth in the NEAC.
