CI Men's Basketball Highlights
1/31/2018
Here are some highlights from the past week for our men's basketball clients:
Head Coach Brian Katz and Associate Head Coach Brandon Laird led the Hornets in to Portland on Saturday and held a high powered Portland State offense to 34% shooting from the field, also forcing 18 turnovers in a magnificent defensive effort. In a season that has been marred by several injuries to key contributors, Sacramento State continues to get pleasant surprises from unexpected places. Saturday, it was Jordan Tolbert's turn. The 5'9 junior came off the bench with a career high 26 point performance. Coach Katz is in his 10th season at the helm at Sacramento State, and in 2015 was honored as National Mid-Major Coach of the Year. Brandon is now in his seventh season at Sacramento State, this being his sixth as Associate Head Coach.
The Golden Flashes and Assistant Coach Akeem Miskdeen erased an 18 point lead held by Buffalo, including a 13 point lead in the final 9 minutes to ruin the Bulls perfect start to conference play. Buffalo had won their first 8 MAC games by an average of 16 points per game, but Kent State put a stop to the buzzsaw to win their sixth straight home game. Sophomore forward Danny Pippen starred with a double double, including a career high 21 points and 13 boards as well as what proved to be the game winning bucket. Coach Miskdeen is in his second year at Kent State after spending time as Associate Head Coach at Hampton. Here's a great story from a couple years ago by Nicole Auerbach featuring Akeem and the difficulties associated with advancing in the coaching ranks from an HBCU: Successful HBCU Coaches Endure Rockier Climb
In his first season as an assistant at Wagner, Winston Smith has helped lead the Seahawks to sole possession of the NEC lead ten games in to conference play. On Sunday, they completed a season sweep of Robert Morris on the road with a 77-64 victory. Wagner was led by 21 points (including 5 three pointers) by Blake Francis and Jojo Cooper's 17 points and 9 assists. Prior to his time at Wagner, Coach Smith spent two seasons as an assistant at NEC rival Fairleigh Dickinson, as well as 8 seasons at Drexel under Bruiser Flint. Wagner looks to continue their torrid run against Central Connecticut State tomorrow night.
