SUNY Orange Dominates in Their Last Home Game.

Last night the SUNY Orange Colts took on Ulster County Community College in what was their last regular season game. This game was also the last home game the team's five sophomores.  This class will go down in history as the most successful class in their sport as they currently have the record for most wins their careers with a record of 53 wins and 8 losses. They hope to continue their success in the postseason as they attempt to finish what they got close to achieving last season. 

Coach Rickard decided to start his five sophomores in celebration of their final home game.  From the start the sophomores took care of business and were able to run out to an 8 point lead just over 5 minutes into the game.  They were able to not maintain, but extended the lead heading into halftime. The Colts held the Senators to 26 points and on the heels of a great steal and last second buzzer beater three from Freshman Jaidyn Rutling, the Colts finished the half with 61 points. While the result of the game was never in doubt, this game was all sorts of exciting as both teams found themselves in fastbreaks, leading to massive slam dunks which amped up the team and drove the crowd into a frenzy. Tyreke Harewood, Marco Evans among others, were the ones who were able ignite the spark with their high flying, rim rattling dunks. The second half was just like the first as the Colts outscored the Senators 40-32 for a final score of 101-58.  This marked the third time the Colts reached 100 points in a game this season. Tonights game saw 11 out of 13 players playing 10 or more minutes for Orange. 5 Colts scored in double digits of 10 or more points, assists or rebounds. #23 Tyreke Harewood finished as the highest scorer of the game with 18 points on shooting 61% from the field. #5 Jaidyn Rutling was as hot as he has been all season as he made the most of his time on the court.  He scored 17 points on 70% shooting in just 17 minutes of play.  He and also added 4 steals, 2 rebounds and 2 assists. There were two players who accumulated a double-double, Daniel Lans finished with 15 points scored, 12 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 steals ad he earned a performance of the night mark. George Patsalos also finished with 11 point and 10 rebounds. Lastly Jared Smalls once again proved why he starts every possession with the ball in his hands  as he finished with 11 assists, 7 rebounds and 2 steals. Smalls 11 assists solidifies his spot in the top 2 in Assists Per Game in NJCAA Division II. 

The Colts take on Rockland County Community College on Saturday March 2nd at 1:00 PM in the semi-finals of the Region XV Division II Tournament. 

#3 Jared Smalls from Middletown, NY has been the quarterback of this years team and is the guy that Coach Rickard always looks to if he wants something to happen. In Coach Rickards eyes, he was an easy pick for team captain as he is a leader on and off of the court and never lost composure. Smalls appeared in 59 of 61 games and has not missed a game in the 2023-24 season. Last season Smalls averaged 2.3 PTS/G,  5.7 A/G, 4.2 REB/G as the roll Smalls played was not as big as the one he held this season with 4.0 PTS/G, 4.3 REB/G and with a in 27 games played playing an average 33.6 minutes per game Smalls is tied for the Highest Assist Per Game Average in all of the NJCAA with 8.6 assist per game average. 

#4 Daniel Lans, a transfer student, immediately made an impact to the team. Lans averages just under 13 points at 12.9 PTS/G while shooting 51% from the field, along with his great scoring he added 5.3 REB/G and 2.6 A/G. Lans is an aggressive and shifty guard who can always find his way to the basket,  He has appeared in 27/27 games averaging 24.8 minutes a game.       

 #23 Tyreke Harewood from Bridgetown, Barbados has become one of the guys the team depends on when close to the basket. Sitting at 6'10 Harewood certainly knows how to use his size to his advantage and after struggling with injuring all season did no stop him from performing. Last season Harewood saw limited time and only started in 2 games where this season proved why he should be on the court and there were only five games where Harewood was not in the starting lineup as he currently has the best shooting percentage on the team out of players who have shot 50 or more shots. Harewood appeared in 57/61 games in his two years and currently averages 9.4 PTS/G, 5 REB/G and 1.2 BLK/G for the 2023-24 season.  

#24 George Patsalos from New Windsor, NY was another easy candidate for captain in Coach Rickards eyes as he has only improved from last season. Last season Patsalos appeared in 34 games and started just 7 of those games. This year Patsalos was another who struggled with injury and only appeared in 19 games in the 2023-24 season and started all but 3 of those 19. Patsalos appeared in 53 of the 61 games that SUNY Orange has played in and was nothing short of exciting, this seasons Patsalos averaged a double-double meaning he earned 10 or more stats in two different categories. With 13.3 PTS/G, 10.7 REB/G and 1.4 BLK/G Patsalos really made an impact when he was on the court and was another go to guy in the offense for Coach Rickard and was a guy you could count on to help on defense. 

#25 Justin Hannibal from Goshen, NY  appeared in 23 games in his two years in a Colts uniform and averaged 3.5 PTS/G, 1.6 REB/G and 0.3 A/G. This season made the most of his time on the court shooting 9/14 (64.3% highest average on the team) and was able to start for the first time in his career last night and made back to back layups to give his team the energy surge they needed.