The Hartwick College men's basketball team will open the 2004-05 season in the Scotty Wood Tournament against host Muhlenberg College at 8 p.m. Friday, November 19.
Marymount University (Va.) and Western New England College (Mass.) will meet in the opener at 3 p.m. On Saturday, the consolation game is at 3 p.m. and the championship game is at 8 p.m.
The Hawks, who finished with a 2-22 record a year ago, have five returning players and a talented group of newcomers.
"I expect that we will be a better team and we're pretty optimistic heading into Friday's opener," said second-year head coach Paul Culpo. "We addressed our needs at the perimeter with our recruiting class and we're a better shooting team from the outside. I'm looking for us to run as much as possible and to utilize our depth and speed this season."
Culpo will start three guards against the Mules, who finished with an 8-17 record last season. Sophomore Ramose Modesto (5.8 ppg, 42 assists) started in 12 games as a freshman and averaged 25 minutes per game. Modesto will be joined in the backcourt by freshman point guard Matt Simoneschi and junior college transfer Tim Kindlon.
Simoneschi earned all-county honors after his junior and senior seasons at South Side High School, where he led the team to the Nassau County Championship as a senior. Kindlon, an All-Region III selection and an All-Mountain Valley Conference player, averaged 12.7 points last season at Hudson Valley Community College.
The starters in the frontcourt will be senior center Mike Warzonek and freshman power forward Sterling Green. Wawrzonek averaged 7.6 points per game and is the top returning scorer on the team. Green was a two-time all-conference selection and scored over 1,300 points at Burlington Township High School (N.J.).
Seniors Bill Lanchantin and Mike Leighton will provide the Hawks with experience off the bench at the forward position. Lanchantin started in 21 games last season and averaged 5.2 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Leighton, who is coming off season-ending knee surgery, averaged 5.0 points and 4.0 rebounds. He hit 49 of 100 field goals and gives the squad another threat from the perimeter.
Junior guard John Montana is the other returning player on the roster this season. He averaged 4.0 points and hit 17 of 42 shots from 3-point range as a sophomore. Montana will see minutes along with junior swingman John Spellman, who returned to the team after sitting out last season.
Freshman Greg Betancourt will compete for playing time as a shooting guard. He averaged 18.8 points per game last season and averaged 19.3 as a junior at Northern Highlands High School.
Freshman forwards Eddie McAdoo, James Watkins and Josh MacKenzie will give the Hawks depth in the frontcourt. McAdoo played three seasons at LaSalle Institute, and Watkins played as a center/forward at Wilbraham and Monson Academy. MacKenzie recently joined the basketball team after playing on the football team for the Hawks.
Freshman guard/forward Christopher Ward should give Hartwick additional help from the perimeter. He averaged 17.2 points per game as a senior at Nashoba Regional High School (Mass.).
