st mary's notes...

[IE]

The Gaels will open the season without its leading scorer from last season. Senior guard Paul Marigney will miss at least the first seven games of the season while resolving academic issues. The earliest expected date Marigney would be available to the team is the December 11 game at Hawaii.


Senior forward Frederic Adjiwaou was granted an additional year of eligibility by the NCAA. In order for Adjiwanou's year to be reinstated, he will have to miss the first four games of the 2004-05 season. Adjiwanou played in four games during the 2001-02 season at Foothill Junior College before the program was dropped midseason.


Junior forward Erik Bond will miss the first seven games of the 2004-05 Saint Mary's basketball season. Due to NCAA transfer rules, Bond must complete two semesters of course work at SMC before he's eligible to play for the Gaels. Bond transfered to SMC in the Spring of 2004 and will be available the the Gaels at the end of the 2004 fall semester, which ends on December 9. The first game for Bond will be when the Gaels play at Hawaii on December 11.

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Probable Starters for Belmont (per game averages):
# Name Pos. Ht. Yr. Pts. Rebs.
10 Brian Collins G 6-4 Jr. 10.3 4.2
3 Jese Snyder G 6-3 Sr. 7.0 3.6
00 Adrian Jones F 6-5 So. 4.9 2.0
33 Will Peeples F 6-6 Fr. 0.0 0.0
45 Andrew Preston C 6-10 So. 2.3 1.3

Belmont is coming off a 2003-04 campaign that ended with a berth into the postseason NIT, where it was defeated by Austin Peay, 65-59, in the first round. Last year, the Bruins posted a 21-9 record for 18-year head coach Rick Byrd. Belmont posted a 15-5 record in the Atlantic Sun Conference, which was good for third place.

The Bruins return 10 players from last year's squad, including starters Brian Collins and Jese Snyder. Collins, the Bruins' starting point guard, is the top returning scorer, rebounder and assist leader on the squad. Collins averaged 10.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.6 steals as a sophomore. Snyder returns as the teams leading 3-point shooter after connecting on 40.6 percent of his 3-point attempts last season. Snyder made 52-of-128 attempts from downtown and was fourth in the A-Sun in 3-point field goal percentage. He also averaged 7.0 points and 2.1 rebounds per game as a junior.

 

[Tupac]

Thanks for the info.

 

[IE]

Bruins head west for CVC Classic
By Nate Rau, Sports Correspondent
November 11, 2004

The Belmont men?s basketball team headed to northern California Wednesday in preparation for this weekend?s Coaches vs. Cancer Classic.

On the Bruins? to-do list for the weekend:

? Visit Alcatraz Island.

? Check out Fisherman?s Wharf.

? Take in Ghirardelli Square.

? Find an inside post presence to replace Adam Mark, the Bruins recently graduated 6-8, all-everything post player.

But above all, coach Rick Byrd?s squad is seeking to earn a pair of wins to open their 2004-05 campaign. Tonight, the Bruins face St. Mary?s at California-Berkeley. Win or lose, Belmont plays again Friday against either Cal or UC-Riverside.

Four different schools host preliminary tournaments this weekend. In addition to Cal, Syracuse, Memphis and Mississippi State (in Birmingham, Ala.) will host games this weekend. The winners from each of those host sites will travel to historic Madison Square Garden in New York for the Coaches vs. Cancer championship Nov. 18-19.

Belmont coach Rick Byrd said his squad was one of the first teams to agree to participate in the tournament and volunteered to go out to northern California as opposed to Memphis or Birmingham.

?We actually chose to go out to California,? Byrd said. ?We thought it would be a nice trip for our kids. We like to go places that our different.?

In order to advance to Madison Square Garden, Belmont will have to get by a St. Mary?s team which may not be a household name in Nashville, but is making a name for itself in basketball circles. Head coach Randy Bennett had St. Mary?s, which is located in Moraga, Calif, contending with powerhouse Gonzaga all season long last year in the West Coast Conference. This year, St. Mary?s is picked second in the league, which once again looks to be stacked.

?I think when it?s all said and done, St. Mary?s will be in the top 100 in the RPI and they?ll contend with Gonzaga again for the conference championship,? Byrd said. ?It would be an upset and a very big win for us.?

If Belmont can get past St. Mary?s, it can likely look forward to a game with major conference contender in Cal, from the Pac 10.

Besides aiming for two major upsets, Byrd said he?ll have his eye on certain areas of his team, specifically in the paint where Andrew Preston will be looking to help fill the shoes of Mark, a first-team Atlantic Sun player last year.

?Being a perimeter-oriented team, we need someone to rebound and score in the paint,? Byrd said. ?If we can have Andrew get that done, we?d feel better about ourselves.?

Regardless of whether this weekend?s games earn the Bruins a trip to Madison Square Garden, Byrd said his squad plans on enjoying its time in nearby San Francisco. On Saturday, the Bruins will be free to explore the bay area?s many sights.

?We?re going to do the tourist thing, and see Alcatraz and the piers,? Byrd said. ?Hopefully it?s a productive weekend all around.?