Guard Gravon Goodman led Atlantis to a 1-1 split at Bucks County Community College and has been named the NSAC men’s basketball Player of the Week.
The sophomore transfer from Copiah Lincoln Community College averaged 28 pts and 6.5 assists against the defending Eastern State Athletic Conference champs.
Honorable Mention:
Congratulations to Gravon Goodman and all the nominees!
The first basketball polls of the year are out in the USCAA, and the New South Conference is well represented as the Apprentice men’s and women’s teams as well as the Atlantis men are in the top 5 of their respective polls.
The Apprentice men have garnered the number 2 national ranking, trailing only Bryant & Stratton Syracuse. Head coach Evan Kee is pleased with the recognition and says he’s looking forward to returning to Petersburg, Virginia, the site of the USCAA Small College Championships.
“We are thrilled that our strong start to the season has led to an early season #2 ranking,” said Kee. “We’ve played a challenging opening schedule and we are happy to have come out with some convincing wins. We understand that the only poll that truly matters is the final one, which will be the crowned national champion. We hope to be in position to finish the season number one in the country and to cut down nets at Virginia State University.”
The Builders are picking up where they left off last season when they went undefeated in conference play, won the NSAC tournament title, and advanced to the USCAA semifinals before falling to Bryant & Stratton Buffalo 77-75.
Atlantis comes into the poll ranked number 4. The new NSAC member also appeared in the national tournament last season in its first year of eligibility, but fell victim to B&S Buffalo in the opening round 73-64.
B&S Buffalo is at number three. Salem University, last year’s national champion, rounds out the top 5.
The Apprentice women crack the season-opening rankings at number four. The Lady Builders fell to eventual champion D’Youville in the national semifinals last year 75-48.
After a needed Thanksgiving Day break, New South teams return to action this week to a slate of interesting matchups.
Blue Lights opens the week on Tuesday by hosting the JV team from Livingstone, The Thoroughbreds (4-2) hope to end a two-game slide by getting key players back from injuries.
Wednesday night is Rivalry Night in Miami as Atlantis (3-2) hosts cross-town foe United International College.
It’s officially called the Roger Taylor Classic, but Apprentice (5-1) and MACU (1-4) consider the weekend of games in Rocky Mount, North Carolina to be the “NSAC-USA South Showdown.” On Friday, the Builders face Greensboro College and the Thoroughbreds tackle NC Wesleyan. They switch opponents on Saturday.
Central International (4-4) gets back to action on Monday, December 4, taking on a much-improved Patrick Henry College team.
Lighthouse (5-2) will try to knock the rust off from a two-week layoff when it travels to Atlantis on December 6. It will mark the first-ever NSAC conference game for both teams.
ALBANY, N.Y. – Atlantis and Bryant & Stratton Albany played a back-and-forth contest in their rematch Thursday night, but the Atlanteans held on late to sweep the series 68-66.
B&S took the lead from the start on their home court for the first time in their two home games against AU. Atlantis (3-2) fought back and led by as many as five before settling for a 4-point advantage at halftime, 30-26.
B&S (1-2) retook the lead in the first minute of the second period and extended it to 33-30 before AU reclaimed the top spot on a Keith Shakes, Jr. layup at the 16:16 mark to make it 35-34. The visitors would lead by as many as 12 after two free throws by Stewart Clough with 9:08 remaining before the Bobcats would rally again.
B&S cut the lead to one, 67-66, with 17 seconds to play off a steal and subsequent layup by Devon Smith-Johnson. Tyric Francois of Atlantis was fouled on the inbounds play and made one of his two free throw attempts. The Bobcats had a chance to retake the lead with :09 remaining but missed both free throws to provide the final score.
“Very proud of the way our guys fought to the very last second of the game,” said B&S coach Mike Shewmaker. “Our energy and commitment to playing hard for 40 minutes was there, but the reality is, you don’t win college basketball games shooting 17-30 from the FT line.”
Clough led the Atlanteans with 17 points. Smith-Johnson matched that for Bryant & Stratton.
Atlantis had defeated B&S Albany 73-56 on Tuesday and dropped a 91-79 decision to Bryant & Stratton Syracuse on Wednesday.
Image courtesy albany.bscbobcats.com
ALBANY, N.Y.– Bryant & Stratton Albany fought hard, but couldn’t catch up in their home opener against Atlantis, falling 73-56 on Tuesday night.
Atlantis (2-1) hit the ground running and by the end of the first half, the spread was 38-26. The Bobcats (1-1) had a much stronger second half and cut the deficit to five, but it wasn’t enough to overcome the Atlanteans.
“Atlantis is a very physical and energetic team who we did not match the intensity with,” Bobcats coach Mike Shewmaker said following the game. “We need to start valuing the basketball and handling defensive pressure. We can’t keep letting other teams dictate the pace of play. They beat us start to finish.”
Atlantis continues its New York road trip tonight at Bryant & Stratton Syracuse. B&S Albany and Atlantis will meet again on Thursday.
Story and image courtesy bscbobcats.com
