Region XV DII Men's Basketball Championship

-Middletown, NY 

After their semifinals victory over the Generals of Sullivan County Community College the Colts competed in the Region XV DII Men's Basketball Championship where they took on the Vikings of Westchester County Community College.

Going into this contest the Colts had an undefeated conference record of 9-0. This season the two teams faced off on two separate occasions with the Colts coming away as the victors in both games.

• Nov. 21st 2024 the Colts traveled to Westchester Community College and defeated the Vikings 98-87.
• Feb. 11th the Colts hosted the Vikings and took care of business defeating Westchester 93-78 giving Head Coach Tom Rickard his 250th win.

With an overall record of 25 wins and 4 losses the Colts eagerly wanted to push their win total to over 25 wins and get back to where they were just last season by advancing to the District Championship. 

To start things off the Vikings open up the game and jumped out to an early lead, until the Colts were able to rally back and gain the lead. In the first half there was nothing but high intensity plays, despite the Vikings being able to find holes in the Colts defense scoring  it was no match for their fast paced play-style.

After an exciting 20 minutes of play the Colts close out the first half with their largest lead Vikings 54-37. Through the first half of play the Colts were led by sophomore Jabari Phillip who scored 16 points and sophomore Mathew Shea who scored 15 points. 

In the second half both teams came out of the halftime break hot and ready to take home the victory, with the Colts standing at a comfortable lead they looked to not make any unforced errors and finish the last 20 minutes strong. 

After an exciting 40 minutes of play the Colts kept the lead they secured early in the game despite being outscored 57-46 in the second half, the Colts were able to push through and come away with the victory defeating the vikings for the second time at their home arena.

In this game both teams faced foul troubles as there was a combined 42 fouls committed by both teams with a total of 44 foul shots attempted.

Defeating the Vikings 101 - 93 the SUNY Orange Colts become the Region XV DII Men's Basketball Champions. With this victory the Colts have secured the title of "Region Champions" in two out of the last three appearances winning back-to-back Region Champions.   

The SUNY Orange Colts advance to the District Championship as they will travel to Niagara Community College to take on the Thunderwolves of SUNY Niagara.  

-Top Performers- 

Sophomore Forward #22 Jabari Phillip led the way for the Colts scoring an amazing 27 points on 11-18 shooting. Jabari also added collected his fourteenth double-double on the season after recording 10 rebounds while also adding one steal and one block to his amazing night. This is also the fifteenth game where Jabari has scored 20 or more points this season. Jabari finished the Region XV Tournament by being named Tournament Most Valuable Player averaging 19.5 points, 13 rebounds, four steals and two blocks in two games. 

Sophomore Forward #24 Mathew Shea finished as the second highest scorer for the Colts, finishing with 21 points on 9-16 shooting. Mat Shea had an energetic start of the game and brought the intensity whenever he stepped on to the court. Shea led the way for the Colts in shooting from 3pt range while also adding six rebounds and one steal to his great night. 

Sophomore Guard #3 Daniel Lans was the third highest scorer for SUNY Orange. Lans scored 19 points on 8-13 shooting while also having a team high eight assists and four blocks. Lans finished the game with 19 points scored, six rebounds, eight assists, two steals and four blocks and after an amazing weekend Daniel Lans was named Region XV Men's Basketball Tournament All-Tournament Team.