JAMAICA, N.Y.— The seeding for the 2014 CUNY Basketball Championships were announced on Wednesday. The York College men's basketball team will be hosting John Jay College on Saturday, February 22nd at 3:00 p.m., while the women will head to the College of Staten Island on Sunday, February 23rd at 2:00 p.m.
The men's team is the #2 seed in the CUNYAC playoffs, while the women earned the eighth and final playoff spot. If the men advance, they will play in the semifinals on Tuesday night at Nat Holman Gymnasium in Manhattan against either Baruch or Lehman. If the women advance they will play in the same gymnasium on Wednesday night, against either Lehman College or Hunter College.
For the men, this is a first round playoff rematch from a season ago. The Cardinals look to rebound from the 81-78 loss in overtime they suffered on the road. The Bloodhounds of John Jay (9-16. 7-9 CUNYAC) are looking to get back to the CUNYAC championship game where they lost to the College of Staten Island a year ago. Regular season play for this year saw York top John Jay twice (80-68 on January 13th and 94-82 on January 31st.)
John Jay will be led by Kris Owens, who ranks 6th in the CUNYAC on the season with 17.8 points per contest. Teammate Korede Griffith ranks 11th in the conference with 15.6 points per game. Darrell Robinson's 3.8 assists per game puts him in a tie for 4th most in the CUNYAC. Also for the Bloodhounds, Griffith leads both the CUNYAC and nation in steals per game, with 3.6.
York (18-7, 13-3 CUNYAC) will be led by
Michael Woods who leads both the team and conference in scoring and ranks 2nd in the entire NCAA, averaging 29 points a game.
Jaron Williams has a team high 9.7 rebounds per game which is good for third most in the CUNY Athletic Conference and Lawson averages 5.8 assists per contest; putting him 2
nd overall in CUNYAC and 18th in the nation. York is playing some of its best ball of the season right now, as they enter the playoffs on a six-game win streak.
The women will have their work cut out for them as they take on #1 seed College of Staten Island. They finished the regular season with a record of 19-6 overall and 14-2 in CUNYAC play. They are led by Melanie Johnson whose 17.3 points per game are tied for the 2nd most in the conference. Katelyn Hempworth's 8.6 rebounds per game are good for most on the Dolphins and 11th most in CUNYAC. Nikki Fabozzi leads the team in assists with 2.9 per game.
York (3-22, 2-14 CUNYAC) will need big games from
Angelika Ruggiano and
Stayce Kay Muirhead in order to leave Staten Island with a win. Ruggiano leads the team in scoring with 10.6 points per game (18th CUNYAC), while Muirhead leads the team and is 6th in the CUNYAC with 9.5 rebounds per game. They will also have to cut down on the turnovers that have plagued them all season. They compiled a combined 86 turnovers in their last three games— all losses. In their two matchups this season, Staten Island handled York easily (85-47 on November 26th and 73-36 on January 22nd.)
Admission to both contests are free, T-shirts and other prizes will be given away during the men's game at 3 p.m. at the York College gymnasium. If you can't make it out to the game, you can follow the action on your computer or smart phone with live stats for the men and audio for the women. Click
here for the men's link and
here for the women's link. Those links will go live just prior to tip-off.
The complete seedings for the playoffs are listed below.
Women's Seeding
#1 College of Staten Island
#2 Baruch College
#3 Brooklyn College
#4 Hunter/Lehman
#5 Hunter/Lehman
#6 John Jay
#7 CCNY
#8 York College
Men's Seeding
#1 College of Staten Island
#2 York College
#3 Baruch College
#4 Brooklyn
#5 Hunter
#6 Lehman
#7 John Jay
#8 CCNY
Schedule-
Saturday, February 22nd –
Men's Quarterfinals
#1 College of Staten Island vs. #8 CCNY
#2 York College vs. #7 John Jay
#3 Baruch vs. #6 Lehman
#4 Brooklyn vs. #5 Hunter
Sunday, February 23rd –
Women's Quarterfinals
#1 College of Staten Island vs. #8 York College
#2 Baruch College vs. #7 CCNY
#3 Brooklyn College vs. #6 John Jay College
#4 Hunter/Lehman vs. #5 Lehman/Hunter
Tuesday, February 25th –
Men's Semifinals- at CCNY
6:00 pm: #1/#8 vs. #4/#5
8:00 pm: #2/7 vs. #3/#6
Wednesday, February 26th –
Women's Semifinals- at CCNY
6:00 pm: #1/#8 vs. #4/#5
8:00 pm: #2/7 vs. #3/#6
Friday, February 28th–
Women's & Men's Championship Final- at CCNY
6:00 pm: Women's Championship
8:30 pm: Men's Championship
