The SUNY Orange Colts took on a familiar face in Sullivan County

Loch Sheldrake, NY - Last night the SUNY Orange Colts traveled to Sullivan County to take on the Generals in a winner take all game for the Mid-Hudson Conference regular season title.  When these two teams faced off was on December 7th, the Generals were able to come away with the win in a close, back and forth affair. Sullivan has been the class of the league for years, and while the Colts have made strides recently in trying to catch up with the Generals, this time the Colts came up just short and dropped a heart breaker 74-69.

The Colts started the game off strong as they were able to earn an 18-10 lead before Sullivan was able to change the momentum and tie the game at 20.  The rest of the first half was back and forth with Orange leading by 4 points, 34-30 as the first half ended. In the beginning of the second half, the Colts once again jumped ahead 39-30 but Sullivan yet again had an answer and came back to tie the game at 43.  The rest of the game, which saw 9 ties and many lead changes was close the rest of the way.  With 2:30 left in the game and the Colts sitting on 69 points, the team went cold and would not score again.  While the Colts were struggling, Sullivan was able to take advantage of a couple of key turnovers which they turned into easy baskets to account for the final score. 

The Colts had three athletes score in double digits with 10 or more points.  Another almost recorded 15 assists. Sophomore. #24, George Patsalos was the leading scorer for the Colts and was also the Colt of the game as he finished with 17 points shooting 50% from the field, and recorded 13 rebounds.  The performance was Patsalos' 11th double-double of the season. Patsalos also came away with 2 assists, 2 blocks and 2 steals. Sophomore, #4, Daniel Lans had 13 points while going 7-8 from the free throw line. He also recorded 5 rebounds, dished out 2 assists and grabbed 1 steal. Sophomore ,#23, Tyreke Harewood also had a fantastic game, despite battling foul trouble all evening, scoring 10 points, shooting 5-6 from the field and was able to grab 5 rebounds and block one shot. Rounding out the production for the Colts, Sophomore Jared Smalls was the main facilitater for Orange finishing with 14 assists.  Smalls' 8.5 assists per game is second in all of NJCAA Division II. In addition to Smalls great passing ability, he was able to grab 2 rebounds, earned 3 steals and scored 6 points. 

Despite the setback, all of the Colts goals for the season are still in front of them and attainable. Orange will play thier last home game of the season as they take on the Senators of Ulster County for Sophomore night on Thursday evening at 7:00 pm.  Five star-studded sophomores will be represented and recognized as the class with the most wins in a two year span.  After that, Orange will enter the Region XV tournament as the second seed with a trip to Districts on their minds.  Make sure to show out and cheer on your SUNY Orange Colts Thursday February, 22nd @7:00 for the regular season finale.