Athletics

Varsity Sports

Men's Basketball

Overview

In 2011-12, the Hamilton College men's basketball team started 8-0, and locked up a NESCAC championship quarterfinal berth on the regular season's final weekend with wins against Tufts University and Bates College in Hamilton's first season in the conference. The Continentals ended up with a 15-10 record, which they aim to improve in 2012-13 despite the loss of NESCAC all-conference pick Pat Sullivan '12. Sullivan is now playing in a professional league in Ireland. Four starters, including Greg Newton '14, Ken Click '13, Hans Schulte '13 and Matt Dean '14, are back this season. Click, Schulte, Newton and Eric Benvenuti '13 are the team captains.

The NESCAC is one of the top athletic conferences in NCAA Division III, and men's basketball is no exception. Two NESCAC teams played in the 2012 NCAA Championship and both advanced to the round of 16. The NESCAC boasts two NCAA titles and three national runner-up finishes. Two teams are ranked in the top five of the D3hoops.com preseason poll. The conference tournament champion receives an automatic bid to the NCAA championship.

Newton is the lone returner that averaged in double figures in scoring last season with 10.8 points per game. He ranked ninth in the NESCAC with 3.71 assists per game and was ninth in assist-to-turnover ratio as well. Click (7.1 ppg) ended up fifth in the conference with 1.04 blocked shots per game, and Benvenuti averaged 7.2 points per game off the bench. Hamilton ranked third in the NESCAC with an average of 14.08 assists on 24.8 field goals made per game. The Continentals were fourth in the conference with a free-throw percentage of 74.8 percent.

The 2012-13 schedule is highlighted by Hamilton's Thanksgiving Tournament on Nov. 24 and 25. Utica College, Union College and New York University round out the tournament field. The Continentals travel to Daytona Beach, Fla., for two games at the Land of Magic Classic in late December. NESCAC home games are as follows: Amherst College (Jan. 11), Trinity College (Jan. 13), Williams College (Jan. 20), Connecticut College (Feb. 1) and Wesleyan University (Feb. 3). Hamilton plays inside 2,000-seat Margaret Bundy Scott Field House.

The 6-foot, 7-inch Sullivan became the 32nd player in program history to score 1,000 points in a career in February 2011. He ended up ninth on the Continentals' all-time list with 1,439 points. Sullivan was a 2011 Division III East Region All-District first team selection by the National Association of Basketball Coaches and was voted the Liberty League offensive player of the year. Ephraim McDowell '12 graduated last year in fourth place on Hamilton's all-time list with 164 3-point field goals made.

From 1995 to 2011, the Continentals dominated the Liberty League. Hamilton's league record in 16 seasons was 155-59, and the Continentals reached the league tournament championship game eight times in 12 years. Hamilton captured four tournament titles -- the last of which came in 2006 with a 107-72 dismantling of Union College in the final.

Hamilton appeared in the postseason 35 straight years from 1975 to 2009. The Continentals have played in nine NCAA Division III championships and advanced to the third round three times. Hamilton captured 10 Eastern College Athletic Conference Upstate Region tournament crowns from 1976 to 1992. Hamilton has won more than 1,000 games in 99 seasons. The team passed the milestone in 2007-08 with 17 victories.

More Hamilton men's basketball players have earned more All-America awards than any other Division III program. Fourteen players have received 22 All-America honors. Tsakani Ngobeni '07 was the most recent All-American in 2007, when he was voted to the second team. Two-time All-American Michael Smith '92 holds the Division III record with 1,628 rebounds in a career. Cedric Oliver '79 and Michael Schantz '99 scored more than 2,000 points in their careers. The Continentals own a 10-9 record in the NCAA championship, and they are 57-28 all-time in postseason play for a .671 winning percentage. Hamilton has won 20 or more games in a season 16 times, including 23 victories in 2005-06. The program record for wins is 26 in 1990-91, when the team finished 26-1 and was ranked No. 1 in the final Division III poll.

McDowell made the 2011-12 NESCAC Winter All-Academic Team. Each honoree is a varsity letter winner with a cumulative grade point average of at least 3.35. The student-athlete must have reached sophomore academic standing at his institution to be considered for honors.