St Johns University at Staten Island - Tomahawk Yearbook (Staten Island, NY)

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5 ii . E S -S 5 ,.-A- ' ff 98 Tomahawk

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SEASON SUMMARY Conference A UNDERDOGS Not wanting to be denied again. the Llnderdogs blasted through the regular season with an unscarred 8-0 record. Led by Tom Crim- mins. Ron Vespa. and Conference A MVP. John Rhatigan. the Under- dogs became champions. They did it by beating the Wolfpack two straight in a best two out of three championship series, 68-55 and 83-71. Getting to the playoffs was fairly easy as the Llnderdogs encoun- tered only one tough game during the regular season against Animal House, with Vespa Q16 pointsj leading the Llnderdogs to a 55-49 overtime victory. ln the opening game of the playoff, the Underdogs soared to a 63- 43 win over Animal House.'ln the first game of the championship series. the Wolfpack came out fastbreaking to a 27-11 lead with 9 minutes left in the half. The Underdogs seemed stunned, but coach Tom MacNamara regrouped his team, and settled for an 8 point Wolfpack lead at the half. The Llnderdogs came out running and gunning in the second half with the momentum in their favor. With 14:30 left in the game. the Llnderdogs went up by two, 39-37. and held on to win. Crimmins staged the comeback. scoring 12 of his 18 points in the second half. while Vespa and Mike Farrell chipped in 10 and 8 second half points respectively. The Wolfpack slowed things down in Game 2 and maintained a four point lead at half time. The lead changed hands a number of times during the second half until the Underdogs began pulling away with the help of Vespa Q18 pointsj and Rhatigan Q24 pointsj. With 3:45 remaining, the Llnderdogs had mounted up a 70-53 lead. The Wolfpack tried desperately to come back. but the closest they came was 71-61 with 2:02 left. WOLFPACK As a newly formed team this year. the Wolfpack had an impres- sive season record of 6-2 and found themselves in an all-out battle with the Underdogs for the Conference Championsbip. Captained by Howie Savery and coached by team member. Ralph Porzio, the Wolfpack began the season with a heartbreaking double- overtime loss to Animal House. 80-76. But. the Pack bounced back and rolled off six big wins against some tough. veteran teams while losing just one more. Super-freshmen. Ron Zarrelli 128.3 point averagej and Bobby Clark 125.8 point averagel, led the offensive attack for the Wolfpack. finishing one and two as the conference's leading scorers. With a starting team made up of four All-Stars fClark. Javaruski. Porzio and Zarrellij, and a solid bench, the Wolfpack had a good shot at the Conference title. ln the opening round of the playoffs. the Pack ripped Parksy's Wonders. 76-49, as Kevin McKeever came off the bench and led all scorers with 22 points. Zarrelli and Clark added 19 and 16 points respectively. ln the championship series against the Underdogs. the Wolfpack lead early in both games with a balanced offensive attack by Clark and Chris Javaruski. But. the Championship-hungry Llnderdogs took away their hopes. PARKSY'S WONDERS Despite their ups and downs throughout the season, Parksy's Wonders finished with a .500 record Q4-43 and found themselves competing in post-season play. Probably their most impressive victory came in the second game of the season when they beat Animal House. 60-50, with Mike Gallagher scoring 21 points and captain Dave Parks adding 14. They also chalked up a couple of satisfying wins against Sigma Chi Q43-35 and 41- 371 and the Garden Staters Q82-761. ln the playoff game, the fastbreaking and rebounding of the Wolf- pack was too much for Parksy's Wonders as the Wolfpack eliminat- ed their hopes for a Championship title. cunlinued

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ANIMAL HOUSE Playoff-bound Animal House started out the season with a satisfy- ing double-overtime victory over the Wolfpack. 80-76. Evan Cailas netted 25 points and Steve Madden added 19. The team. captained and coached by senior guard Donny Oddo 117.8 point averagej. went on to win a couple and lose a couple. resulting in a 4-4 record. Chalking up impressive wins against the Garden Staters, 74-58. and the Indians, 80-52, they capped off the regular season by nipping Sigma Chi. 70-69, giving them some momentum for the playoffs. In the playoffs. Animal House met the Underdogs but their regular season momentum was not enough to handle them. SIGMA CHI, GARDEN STATERS. INDIANS Sigma Chi Upsilon squeaked through the season with a 3-5 record. After losses to Parksy's Wonders. 43-35. and the Wolfpack. 72-65. Sigma Chi snapped off three in a row - topping the Indians. 41-32. the Garden Staters, 77-621with Ken Damstrom exploding for 40 pointsj. and Animal House, 66-57. The playoff trail dipped from sight. though, with losses to Animal House, 70-69, and the Underdogs. 94- 58. The Garden Staters struggled to a 2-6 record in their inaugural year. Led by guard Andy Perdek 123.1 point averagej. the Staters featured a run-and-gun offense that kept the team in every game. The high powered offense boosted the team to two wins over the veteran Indian team. Before suffering a mid-season collapse, the Indians demonstrated a fighting spirit that challenged the opposition. After close losses to the Underdogs, 79-70, and Sigma Chi, 41-32, the Indians won their only game of the season, a 57-53 overtime victory against Parksy's Wonders. with All-Star Bob Frietag scoring 24 points. Losses to Animal House and the Garden Staters ended the playing season for the Indians. Conference B ANIMAL HOUSE Animal House, which took the football crown by storm, captured the Conference B Championship by surprise. Captained by football standouts, Anthony Dippy Careccia and John Vacante, the team's success was anchored on 5'1 1 All-Star center, Dan DiVietri. DiVie- tri. who led the league in scoring with a 29.0 point average. set up many of the team's plays through sharp passing and strong re- bounding. A running offense and a steel trap defense were the features of the House's well-oiled machine. n unblemished season record appeared on the horizon as Animal House pummelled the opposition -59-27 over DPU. a forfeit win over the Missed Shots. 84-27 over the Indians. and 85-55 over the Baby Bulls. However, runner-up DPU had other plans as they sidetracked Animal House, 79-59. Somewhat shaken, but certainly not struggling, the team mopped up the sea- son. topping the forfeiting Missed Shots. the Indians. 72-61, and the Baby Bulls. 79-63. In the divisional tie-breaker. Vacante led the way with 21 points. including the winning basket, as Animal House held on. 59-58. A pesky Rebel team arose in the playoffs, and the House needed luck and skill to hold off the spirited freshmen. Down by one point with two seconds left. DiVietri missed the front end of a one-and-one. Robert PeeWee Morrongiello's tap missed. but DiVietri's rebound buzzer shot gave Animal House a 68-67 co meback thriller. The magic continued into the championships. Down 13 at the half to Eastern Division Champions. the Crusaders, Animal House. be- hind DiVietri's 19 second half points 1for a total of 29 pointsj. stormed to a 53-50 victory. The wind was out of the Crusaders' sails. and Animal House showed no mercy. In the clincher. Vacante scored 16 first half points and the defense blanked conference MVP, Randy Cogger. in the first half for a 30-15 half time bulge. Despite the 30 points scored by Cogger 1161 and Ken Field 1145 in the second half, the Crusaders never again threatened as Animal House swept the two game series. 61-52. ontinued