Box Score (Loch Sheldrake, NY) - Somebody seems to have forgotten to tell the Westchester Community College Men's Basketball team that this is their first season of competition after a three-year hiatus. More than 1,000 days between games will force a program, any program, to rebuild from scratch ... to endure the growing pains that new programs are forced to overcome before they can become a contender ... to suffer more than they celebrate until patience and persistence come together to form the kind of program that sees the middle of February as only the start of things to come.
That is, unless you play men's basketball at Westchester Community College.
If there were any lingering doubt about the state of men's basketball at Westchester Community College in their first season back on the hardwood, only five months after meeting as a team for the first time, it was erased on Thursday night. In a packed field house at Sullivan Community College, the Vikings survived a hostile crowd, a second half buzzer-beater that erased a three-point lead in the final second of regulation to force overtime, and ultimately they survived the #2 team in the country, upsetting Sullivan CC 78-76 in overtime.
With the win, Westchester Community College still has not been outscored by an opponent during 23 games this season.
As has been the case all season,
Tremaine Fraiser (Port Chester, NY/Trinity Catholic) dominated. He scored a team-high 27 points including five points during an overtime period in which WCC outscored the hosts 12-10 to secure the victory. Fraiser was one of four Vikings to score in double figures as
Maxx Miller (White Plains, NY/Mount Saint Michael) chipped in 17 points,
Drew Bronen (Suffern, NY/Suffern HS) added a season-high 13 points, and
Gabriel Cruz (Bronx, NY/In-Tech Academy) netted 11 points.
Westchester CC returns to action on Thursday, Feb. 15 when the Vikings host the Mount Saint Vincent JV team at a time that will be announced shortly. Before the game, the WCC sophomore class will be celebrated for all of their accomplishments this season ... and there will be a lot to celebrate.
