BEARS COMPLETE RECORD-SETTING 21 WIN SEASON WITH 6TH PLACE FINISH IN USCAA NATIONAL BASKETBALL TOURNAMENT
The St. Joseph's College Men's Basketball Team completed quite a season in '05-'06, winning a school record 21 games, capturing their 2nd straight Hudson Valley Conference regular season title and capping it off by accepting their second consecutive bid to compete in the highly competitive United States Collegiate Athletic Association's Division 2 National Championship Tournament in Concord, New Hampshire. At the Nationals, the Bears (21–12), were upset in the quarterfinals, 80-62 by Marion Military Institute (Alabama), but rebounded to defeat the host school from New Hampshire Technical Institute, 78-72, before being edged in the battle for 5th place by Vermont Tech, 68-61. The Bears were led throughout the year by Senior Co-Captain and 1,800 point scorer Chris DiStefano, who earned National All-American honors again this season by averaging a gaudy 17.3 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. "I am thankful for the tremendous opportunity I have had here as part of the Men's Basketball Team", added DiStefano, who was also named the USCAA's Player of the Week on four different occasions this season. "We have competed in 3 National Tournament and won 2 conference regular season titles – it's been a fantastic experience !" As DiStefano alluded to, the Bears are no stranger to the National Tournament scene, since this was their 3rd trip to the championships in the past 4 years. Their best showing was back in 2002-2003, when they advanced to the title game as the "Cinderella", having pulled off two major upsets to reach the finals before being topped by powerhouse Johnson & Wales from Florida (now in USCAA Division 1). Head Coach Joe Cocozello (SJC '95), who has been at the helm of the Bears for the past 4 seasons, was quite pleased with his team's accomplishments this season. "Our goals at the beginning of the season were to qualify for the Nationals and win the Hudson Valley Championship," stated a proud Cocozello. "Although we fell a little short of the conference championship (the Bears were upset by Berkeley College in the championship game), I couldn't be more pleased with the effort that all of our players gave throughout the entire year." Although the team graduates three key contributors, including DiStefano, co-captain Billy Haufmann (who received USCAA Academic All-American honors) and Craig Laquidara, the roster shows a tremendous amount of potential, with Mike Donnelly (who was named to the USCAA All-Tournament team) and Lukasz Cygan returning to lead next year's squad. Cygan, who joined Haufmann on the USCAA Academic All-American squad, already has set the bar high for '06-'07, adding, "we now know what it takes to achieve and compete at this level - I guarantee you that we will all be working very hard over the next few months to perform even better next season !"