By By Ed Morrone
Flash back eight months ago to March 6, a date that still sticks firm in every Pride basketball player’s mind.
The place was Richmond Coliseum, the situation was the Colonial Athletic Association semifinals. The Pride was flying high after defeating Drexel in the quarterfinals for the first time in eight tries and was preparing to match wits with top-seeded Old Dominion University (ODU). It surely wouldn’t be an easy mountain to climb, especially because the Monarchs were playing in their backyard, just 95 miles away from campus.
However, despite all the adversity, the Pride leapt out of the gate early, draining seven of its first nine three-pointers, delivering a collective punch in the stomach to the ODU players and fans. The scoreboard indicated a 32-23 Pride lead at halftime, and the Monarchs looked so disoriented that a victory seemed inevitable. The CAA championship game and a possible NCAA Tournament berth were just 20 minutes away.
But that’s when it all went downhill.
It’s hard to pinpoint what exactly went wrong in the second half. It could have been the Pride’s 24 percent shooting compared to ODU’s 54.2. Or perhaps it was the turnovers and the foul calls that suddenly were going the opposite way. It could’ve been star guard Loren Stokes’ hideous three for 15 shooting that did the Pride in. Maybe it was all of the above.
Whatever the case, the Monarchs came roaring back and used a 14-0 run to turn a 10-point deficit into a lead they would never relinquish. The Pride would go onto lose, 72-58. The team earned a bit in the National Invitational Tournament, but floundered again in a 53-44 loss to Saint Joseph’s. The two losses ended the Pride’s season, leaving the team with nothing to show except a bitter taste in its mouths.
“We just ran out of gas,” head coach Tom Pecora said. “We were one big body away from being able to keep them at bay. It’s something that’s stuck in our heads.”
“We should have put them away,” sophomore shooting guard and reigning CAA Rookie of the Year, Antoine Agudio, said. “We let the crowd and the refs get to us. It got to our heads and it came back and beat us.”
It was a tough loss to swallow, but the Pride has already forgotten it and is prepared to take care of unfinished business this year. This is a comforting sign to fans, mainly because the Pride graduated only three players and returns many key players, including the nationally acclaimed backcourt of Stokes and Agudio. Center Adrian Uter appears ready to step into the starting lineup and sharpshooter Carlos Rivera looks to be recovered from two separate knee injuries that shortened his first two years. A talented recruiting class will help make up for the loss of departed starters Wendell Gibson and Mike Radziejewski, but a deep conference that features two new teams signifies that nothing will be handed to the Pride.
“The competition level is crazy,” Agudio said. “That just means we have to compete against each other in practice every day and get tougher and better because the conference is so tough. We should be all right if we come together like we did last year.”
It won’t be easy, but the coaches and players are ready for what has the makings of a promising season to build on last year’s 21-9 squad.
Backcourt
The team’s guards are undoubtedly its strength and will only go as far as they take them. It starts and ends with Stokes, who can’t turn in abysmal performances like he did against ODU and St. Joe’s if the Pride wants to overtake the Monarchs as the CAA’s top team. He averaged 18.3 points and 6.1 rebounds per game in his sophomore season and was one of only three players in the country to rank in the top of his conference in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals. Stokes was unavailable for comment due to medical tests to treat a facial injury he suffered in practice, but told Newsday he spent four hours a day in the gym over the summer, shooting as many as 1,000 jumpers in each session.
“Loren keeps growing and getting better,” Pecora said. “His game keeps developing and he’s becoming a more complete player. The more complete a player he is, the harder it will be for teams to contain us.”
The other half of the two-headed guard monster is Agudio, who returns after averaging 15.1 ppg and breaking the school record for most three-pointers in a season with 81. The team will also count on Rivera, senior Gibran Washington, freshman recruit Greg “Playstation” Johnson and Lithuanian sniper Zygis Sestokas for perimeter production. According to Pecora, the team’s depth will take away some pressure bestowed upon Stokes and Agudio.
Frontcourt
With Gibson and Radziejewski gone, the frontcourt is the biggest question mark. There probably isn’t a more important player on the roster than Uter, who showed flashes of brilliance (a nine-block performance in 15 minutes, for example) last year when he was not in foul trouble. He needs to work on his consistency, stay on the floor, block shots and crash the glass.
“I have to be patient and take what the offense gives me,” said Uter, who averaged 6.2 ppg, 5.0 rpg and two blocks per game in his junior season. “If I see an opening I’ll try to block a shot, but I don’t want to be over-aggressive. But we also have some good freshmen coming off the bench.”
The freshmen Uter is referring to are Mike Davis (6-7, 230 lbs.), Chris Gadley (6-8, 250) and Arminas Urbutis (6-8, 220). All three can contribute immediately, but are freshmen and will undoubtedly experience growing pains, meaning it is imperative for Uter and senior forward/wingman Aurimas Kieza to stay consistent. However, it certainly is comforting for the Pride to know there are three big guys eligible to come off the bench and plug the lane if Uter runs into foul trouble like he did at times last season.
“As a senior, we need Adrian to be consistent,” Pecora said. “If he works as hard as he can then he’s capable of averaging a double-double. Same with Aurimas-he’s as talented as they come, it’s just a matter of him being consistent. We have to get big time play from our seniors…that’s their responsibility.”
The Bottom Line
The Pride can put the ball on the floor, get to the foul line and shoot the three, so there will be little room for excuses if the team fails to challenge for the CAA Title. If it plays like the team that dominated ODU in the first half and the team that almost upset then No. 7 Syracuse on Dec. 30, then there is no reason why it shouldn’t build on last year’s impressive mark.
The pieces are in place, so it’s just a matter of putting them together in order to finish what last season’s team started.
“Our goal is to win the CAA Tournament and go play in the NCAA Tournament,” Uter said. “That’s the way it should be every year.”
“I’m definitely confident that we can do this, I really am,” Agudio added.
If the Pride can accomplish these goals, then maybe the team will have a different ending come next March 6.