Box Score March 16th, 10:30 PM
Hey everyone,
As you all may know we suffered a tough loss to an extremely
tough Bentley team. They probably played the best defense we saw
all year and they came out and threw the first punch and we had a
hard time bouncing back. We were unable to get stops when we needed
them and they were able to capitalize. They are an extremely
talented team and you have to give them all the credit. They
deserved the win.
Sadly, this is it for our basketball career at PhilaU. The
seniors just would like everyone to know that it has meant the
world to all of us. We consider the PhilaU community our extended
family and are sad to see it come to an end. Thank you to everyone
who has supported us over the past couple of years. Thanks to Dr.
Spinelli for his unending support. Thanks to the teachers that
understood our obligations and helped us out. Also, thanks to the
rest of the students who showed us love by coming to games and
cheering for us. Most importantly, we want to thank our families.
We wouldn't be here without you all.
We think we are leaving the team in good hands. Behind the
senior leadership of Ish and Ola they should be they should
be able to compete and win a bunch of games. Jimmy, Corey, JJ,
Eddie, and Eean all made huge strides this year and I think the
future for PhilaU basketball is bright.
Thank you for some awesome years!
Til we meet again,
Mike, Malcolm, Russ, Marcus
March 15th, 2010
Hey everyone,
Today was a much needed day of rest. We woke up at 10 and had
breakfast in the hotel. Then we watched film on Bentley and had a
really light practice where we walked through some stuff and got up
a lot of shots. After practice we went and had a dinner at Ruby
Tuesday's. Now everyone is just back in the hotel relaxing.
Everyone on the team has been having a great time so far. Everyone
is joking around with each other and even the coaches are getting
involved. This trip has been hilarious.
Everyone is so excited for the game tomorrow. Bentley is a very
good team and it figures to be an awesome game. We won our first
two games but everyone has the mindset that we cannot be satisfied
with anything less than a regional cha
mpionship and anything less than that will be a disappointment. We
have still been getting support from people back home and we are
really trying to win this for the PhilaU community. We're a
family and there is nothing more that we want than to make you all
proud. I am pretty sure y ou can watch the game on www.ncaa.com so if anyone is interested
please check it out.
I also included some pictures this time that were taken by our
awesome bus driver Barry. He takes pictures as a hobby and was
generous enough to upload them on to my computer. He has been our
driver all year and has become one of our biggest fans so props to
Barry!
The first one is just a shot of the scorer's
table. The second is what we like to call our
entourage. I t includes Dr. Spinelli, Dean G, and a lot of parents
and family members. We wouldn't be here without you guys so
thank you! Wish us well against Bentley! 
-Mike, Malcolm, Marcus, Russell
March 14th, 2010- 11:10 PM
Hey Everyone,
I don't know if my words on this blog can do justice for the
emotions that our players and our coaching staff are feeling right
now. We got an unbelievable win tonight against Stonehill College
on their home floor to advance to the Sweet 16. We had a
rough first half but all of our guys really responded in the second
half to overcome an 8 point halftime deficit to win. Coach Magee
really has us playing with confidence and we are extremely excited
to play in the regional final against Bentley on Tuesday night.
We also want to shout out the rest of our coaching staff. The
assistant coaches have been doing an amazing job getting the
scouting reports together and preparing us to play. Coach Cap has
been running around like a maniac all week getting us pumped up to
play. There is a lot that goes on behind the scenes and sometimes
those guys do not get any of the glory and it is much deserved.
As for tomorrow, we get a much needed day off. We are going to
wake up around 10 and eat breakfast and watch film on Bentley. Then
we will have practice at 3 followed by a team dinner then the rest
of the night will be devoted to rest. It should be a pretty low key
day tomorrow. Also, all of the players have been getting a lot of
text messages and Facebook messages from people back home who have
been following our team and supporting us. We just want to thank
everyone for the support and we want to let everyone know that we
really do appreciate it. Thanks again and we will not be satisfied
with anything less than a regional championship.
Lets keep this thing going!
Mike, Malcolm, Russ, Marcus
March 13th, 2010- 12:05 AM
We just got back from a huge OT win against Saint Anselm. It was
such a good team win and we got a lot of contributions from a bunch
of different people. Jimmy Connolly is really coming along and
continues to hit big shots. He's a freshman but the way he
plays and shoots the ball under pressure you would never guess. We
were down 9 at the half and changed some things defensively and we
were able to pull out an extremely hard fought win. We are
extremely proud of our team and our coaching staff.
Tomorrow is another huge day for us. We have a chance to avenge
our Dec. 30th loss to Stonehill. When you come into the
regional tournament you know you are most likely going to have to
go through the top seed on their home court. I think we are going
to come ready to play tomorrow and we are looking forward to a good
game against Stonehill. We have a team breakfast at 10 A.M. then we
will watch film on Stonehill. That will be followed by a team meal
at 3 then we will head to the gym for the game.
Check back for another update after the Stonehill game!
Mike, Marcus, Russ and Malcolm
March 12, 2010- 9:05 PM
So we finally made it to Massachusetts after a pretty long day. We
met at Ravenhill dining hall this morning around 7 A.M. and ate
breakfast. After breakfast we hopped on the bus and began our trip
up to Easton, MA. The 6 hour bus trip was long but we tried to make
it less monotonous by watching Wedding Crashers and Season 2 of
Entourage.
When we got here we checked into the hotel and were able to have
about 2 hours of downtime. The most disappointing part of the whole
trip is the fact that Jimmy C. and Eddie, (freshmen), got the suite
while all of the other players and coaches got put in regular
rooms. First time in the tournament for them and they get the big
room. It makes no sense. Lucky for them I guess…
We are able to get an hour long practice in Stonehill's
gym which started at 5 p.m. This consisted of getting up a bunch of
shots to get a feel for their gym and going through some of our
game plan. After practice we headed over to the banquet put
together by Stonehill for all of the teams in the region. We ate
chicken parm and pasta and listened to a few speakers and saw a
couple slideshows. It's definitely been a long day and now we
are just relaxing in the hotel and watching some college
basketball.
As seniors, we have been fortunate to have made multiple
appearances in the NCAA tournament. However, we are trying to
stress to the younger guys that they need to make the most of these
opportunities because you don't know if you can get back
because making the tournament is no easy task. That is why we are
trying to make a big splash in our last go around.
Check back in tomorrow for more info!
Mike, Malcolm, Marcus, and Russ
March 12th, 2010- 10:00 a.m.
Hey everyone,
It's that time of the year again. After a long regular season
we are finally back in the NCAA tournament. After a disappointing
loss in the CACC semifinals to a very talented Felician team we are
looking to bounce back with a win over Saint Anselm's on
Saturday in the first round of the regional tournament. We will
leave Friday morning around 8 a.m. and take the six hour trip up to
Stonehill. When we get up there we will have a practice followed by
a banquet with all of the other teams that are playing this
weekend.
I am really looking forward to the tournament this weekend and I
really like our chances. This is the most balanced team I have been
on since I have been at PhilaU and we are hoping to make a run in
this tournament.
For us seniors it is our last chance. This will be Malcolm and
Russell's fourth straight year in the tournament and for
Marcus and myself it will be our third straight year. However,
neither of us have a win so anything less than us making a run will
be a huge disappointment. Coach Magee has us working hard on our
game plan and I think the entire team is focused on the task at
hand. It should be extremely exciting and we will keep you updated
throughout the weekend. Wish us luck!
-Yocum
