‘Toga grad Adam Anderson and St. Rose head to NCAAs
Golden Knights freshman has played in all 29 contests in first season, now on to DII tournament
INDIANAPOLIS » The College of Saint Rose will begin its run for the 2018 National Championship on Saturday, March 10 against Saint Anselm (22-8) at Ted Grant Court on the Le Moyne College campus in Syracuse where four of the eight teams competing this weekend will represent the Northeast-10 Conference. The Hawks upended the Golden Knights 79-71 in Manchester, N.H. on January 23 in this year’s meeting between the two schools.
“We are very excited to have the chance to play in another NCAAtournament. This team has worked really hard all year and now it is rewarded with a chance to play amongst the best eight teams in the East Region. We will be ready to go and have another great opportunity ahead of us that we look forward to,” said assistant coach Mike Perno.
Saratoga Springs graduate Adam Anderson has played in all 29 games for the Golden Knights during his freshman season.
He started 11 games this year for the College of St. Rose and has averaged almost 18 minutes per game and 6.4 points per contest and two rebounds per appearance.
The Saratoga Springs native exploded for 23 points against West Virginia Wesleyan, going 10- of-14 from the floor and 3- of- 5 from beyond the 3-point arc.
This marks the 14th NCAA Tournament and second consecutive trip in the College’s 27-year NCAA era for a program that owned the 26th highest all-time winning percentage in
NCAA Division II entering this season. A year ago, the Golden Knights advanced to the East Regional Final (Sweet 16) where they fell 69- 66 to Saint Thomas Aquinas.
The Golden Knights enter the NCAA Tournament having won eight of their last 10. Five players are averaging between 14.5 and 9.4 points on the year.
The Golden Knights have put five players in twin-figures scoring six times this season and have had four drop in at least 10 points seven other times. Furthermore, six players pulled off the feat in an 88-75 victory against visiting Southern New Hampshire on January 17. Senior guard Mical-Ryan Boyd and senior forward Julian Lipinski are the top point producers.
Boyd is averaging the 14.5 ppg while Lipinski, who has been in doublefigures in each of the last seven games, is scoring at a 13.7 ppg clip and is pulling down 6.8 rebounds on a regular basis. He is third in the NE10 with 1.4 blocks per game and stands 11th in rebounding. Junior forward Matt Cerutti is ninth among the league leaders in rebounding (7.1) and FG% (. 529).
As a team, Saint Rose is 28th in the country and second in the NE10 in scoring defense (68.1). It is also second in the NE10 in blocks (3.6) and stands fifth in field goal percentage defense (.435). The Golden Knights have won the turnover battle 18 times this season. They are 14- 4 in those games and have a +1.3 turnover margin on the year.
Lipinski, Boyd, and senior forward Jack Jones all joined the 1,000 point club this season. Lipinski leads the way with 1,133 points, which leaves him nine shy of moving past Shanty Robinson (200408) into 26th place on the program’s all- time scoring list. Boyd and Jones have scored 1,113 and 1,017 points respectively.
Saint Rose made its way to three “Elite Eight” tournaments (1996, 1998, and 1999) and advanced to the 1998 national semifinals where the Golden Knights fell 88-76 to eventual national champion UC Davis at what was then known as the Commonwealth Convention Center in Louisville.