NABC Division III Coaching Report
Jan. 22, 2002
By Gary Rubin
If you listen carefully, you can hear the rumblings out of Washington, D.C. Defending Division III champion Catholic has quietly won 15 straight games and is again looking to cut the nets down at the end of the season. Head coach Mike Lonergan had to replace three seniors from last season's title team, but thinks this year's group has just as good a chance to win it all.
"We lost so many good seniors to graduation, including three starters, that I wasn't sure we would be good this year," said Lonergan. "Our guys have worked very hard on defense to keep winning."
On Saturday night, Catholic kept its streak alive by defeating Marymount 86-67 in a Capital Athletic Conference contest, as all five CUA starters finished in double figures.
"We don't have the talent we had last year but I am very proud of my guys," Lonergan said. "They are playing great."
As the defending national champs, this year's Cardinal squad faces each game with a bullseye on their backs.
"It is difficult being the defending champions because we are the biggest game on everyone's schedule," said Lonergan. "It makes it fun because the crowds are bigger and the games more exciting. You have to prepare for everyone even more than in the past."
Lonergan has the highest winning percentage (.705, 177-74) in the Cardinals' 90-year basketball history. He led CUA to its fourth consecutive CAC regular season title in 2000-01 and third conference tournament championship. The Cardinals are 100-21 (.826) since the start of the 1997-98 season, including a remarkable 50-6 in CAC regular season play.
Off the court, Lonergan is actively involved with the Knights of Columbus, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, Special Olympics and the American Cancer Society's Coaches vs. Cancer program. While his teams have raised more than $12,000 to battle the disease over the past six seasons, he has been a featured speaker at several national ACS events.
Lonergan also joined another exclusive club this season when his wife, Maggie, accepted the head women's basketball coach position at Catholic. It is believed to be currently just the second husband-wife coaching combination at the same school in the NCAA.
"To be honest with you, it has been fun but difficult for Maggie and me," said Lonergan. "Maggie doesn't have the time to help me like she has done in the past as my unofficial assistant and neither of us has any free time. We both love basketball and love raising our kids around a gym, but it definitely isn't easy."
Another team making noise in Division III is Mike Rhodes' Randolph-Macon Yellow Jackets, who are currently 14-2 and 9-0 in Old Dominion Athletic Conference action. Rhodes, now in his third season with RMC, knows a thing or two about winning a national championship. As a player at Lebanon Valley College, he led his squad to the 1994 NCAA Division III crown while earning national player of the year honors.
Randolph-Macon picked up a big win last Saturday when it went into Roanoke and knocked off the host Maroons 69-66. RMC vaulted up the national scene on Jan. 9 when it defeated highly rated Hampden-Sydney at home. The rematch just might decide more than a conference championship.
At the beginning of the season, Brockport head coach Nelson Whitmore's Golden Eagles received 10 of 11 first-place votes in the SUNYAC Coaches Poll as the team to beat. So far, they have not disappointed. Brockport is 15-0, 6-0 in league play, and heads to Buffalo tonight for a showdown with second-place Buffalo State (10-1, 6-1) for sole possession of first place. Brockport tuned up for the league battle by beating RIT 78-58 on Saturday night in the championship of the JP Morgan Chase Scholarship Tournament.
The Hope-Calvin men's basketball rivalry added another chapter on Saturday as Kevin Vande Streek's visiting Calvin Knights won the 147th meeting in the storied series by edging Glenn Van Wieren's Flying Dutchmen 70-68.
Trailing by 10 points with five minutes left in the game, the Flying Dutchmen battled back and had a chance, not once but twice, to win the game in the closing seconds. Don Overbeek's layup with :46 remaining put Hope within a point, 67-66. The Knights ran down the clock before Jon Potvin drained a three-pointer at :16 to give the Knights a 70-66 advantage.
Three seconds later Matt Taylor was fouled and made two free throws to make it 70-68. A quick foul put Potvin at the line at :09, but he missed both free throws and Hope rebounded. Matt Taylor's missed a shot at :03, but retained control when the ball went out of bounds at :01. A quick inbounds pass couldn't beat the clock as Overbeek's made-basket was fired after the buzzer sounded.
