2010 CUNY Athletic Conference / Con Edison
Men's & Women’s Basketball Championships
WOMEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP FACT SHEET
34th Annual Championship Game
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 3:00 pm • CCNY's Nat Holman Gymnasium
The Final features the top two women's teams: #1 Seeded BARUCH COLLEGE (22-5), the two-time defending champions, and the #2 seed, HUNTER COLLEGE (17-10).
Baruch is led by CUNYAC Player of the Year Monique Salmon (Truman / Bronx, NY), a junior who led CUNYAC and NCAA Division III in assists with 7.1, while averaging 11.7 points, 4.2 rebounds and 2.0 steals per game. Both schools feature two additional All-CUNYAC Players this season; The Bearcats are led by the frontcourt duo of Megan Bouwens (15.7 points, 9.3 rebounds) and Kalea Davis (12.2 points, 10.4 rebounds), while the Hawks are paced by Megan McKenna (14.7 points) and Juanita Whyms (12.2 points, 12.7 rebounds).
Despite each Manhattan school winning three titles this past decade alone, the two Lexington Avenue rivals have never met in the final game in the Championship's 34-year history. Baruch has been in the championship game each of the last four years (winning three titles), while Hunter is in the school's first final since 2005 and is second all-time in Championships with eight.
The winner earns CUNYAC's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III National Championships beginning late next week. Tournament seeding will be announced by the NCAA on Monday.
MEN'S CHAMPIONSHIP FACT SHEET
45th Annual Championship Game
Saturday, February 27, 2010 @ 5:00 pm • CCNY's Nat Holman Gymnasium
"The City Game" is the oldest Division III Conference Championship in the Country.
The Final is destined to be a classic, with the top two teams: #1 Seeded YORK COLLEGE (21-6) and the #2 seed, BROOKLYN COLLEGE (21-6), the defending champions. During the regular season, the Cardinals and Bulldogs battled in two one-point games, with York coming out on top 68-67 on the road and 79-78 in overtime at home two weeks ago. Hence Brooklyn was 11-2 in CUNYAC play, while York (12-1) stumbled against Medgar Evers earlier this month.
The Game features the top two Players in the Conference, who were both Preseason All-America candidates. York junior center Marcel Esonwune (Marist Brothers / Lagos Nigeria) in essence snatched away the CUNYAC Player of the Year award from Brooklyn senior forward Richard Jean-Baptiste (St. John's Prep / Queens, NY), who won the award in 2008 and 2009. The 6'6" Esonwune scores 19.4 points per game and currently leads the NCAA in rebounding (15.3) and blocked shots (4.3) and is an explosive presence on the interior for York. Jean-Baptiste, at 6'3", can score from anywhere on the court and averages 19.2 and 6.8 rebounds for the defending champion Bulldogs.
Both teams also feature trigger-happy shooting guards, who had exceptional semifinal games on Tuesday. York's Nick Hamilton-Lopez, the only other All-Star on the two squads, leads the team in scoring at 19.5 points and finished with a career-high 36 points to go along with eight assists. Senior Daniel Nisbitt led the Bulldogs with 22 points (including 5-7 from three point range) and was 6-6 from the charity stripe in overtime.
This year will mark the first time the two South Division rivals face off in a CUNYAC Final with Brooklyn seeking to become the first school to repeat since the 2007 York Cardinals. While Brooklyn head coach Steve Podias, in his 18th season, made the final for the first time last year, York's Ronald St. John will be coaching in his 10th final in the last 15 seasons behind the bench, after surpassing the 300-win plateau this year.
The winner earns CUNYAC's automatic berth to the NCAA Division III National Championships beginning late next week. Tournament seeding will be announced by the NCAA on Monday.
Both finals can be heard live on www.cunyathletics.com and www.d3hoops.com, while a tape-delayed broadcast of the games can be seen Sunday, February 28th on Time Warner Cable at 5:00 and 7:00 pm on Channel 199.
-- cuynyathletics.com --