News & Events
City Tech Wins One for Ray with First-Ever CUNYAC Men’s Basketball Championship
Tournament MVP Shacun Malave holds aloft the winner's trophy. Coach Ray Amalbert receives the perpetual "shoe" trophy.
In its second full season as a member of the NCAA and the last season under veteran coach Ray Amalbert, New York City College of Technology (City Tech) beat the College of Staten Island (CSI), 76-66, to win its first-ever CUNY Athletic Conference/Con Edison Men’s Basketball Championship. City Tech was the second seed in the tournament, held at Lehman College’s Apex Arena in the Bronx. Because of Friday’s victory, the Yellow Jackets (21-5) gain an automatic berth to the NCAA Championships beginning next Thursday, March 3. The team will play Ursinus College on its home court in Collegeville, PA, at 7:00 PM. The Yellow Jackets, who were the tournament runners-up in 2004, have now been victorious in 16 of their last 17 games and 11 straight heading into the 48-team National Tournament.
The Yellow Jackets stormed out to a 9-2 lead the first four minutes, but the experienced Dolphins fought back and took a 34-31 lead into the half. Coming out of the break, the Dolphins extended the lead to six points at 40-34 on a jumper by senior guard Mike Stewart (Westinghouse/Brooklyn, NY), a three-time CUNYAC all-star.
A basketball tradition: the champs take home the net.
In the second half, City Tech came from behind, a hallmark of this team. With just under eight minutes remaining in the contest, the Yellow Jackets scored eight straight points in three minutes and never looked back. Junior guard Clyde Forteau (St. Raymond’s/Bronx, NY) hit a 3-pointer for a 69-63 City Tech lead with 1:23 left in the game and nailed three of four free throws in the final minute to seal the victory. Forteau finished with a team-high 19 points and sophomore forward Otis Saylee (Seward Park/New York, NY) had another strong performance with 15 points, seven rebounds, four assists and three steals.
Shacun Malave (DeWitt Clinton/Bronx, NY), last season’s CUNYAC Player of the Year, had 12 points, nine rebounds and three blocks for the Yellow Jackets and was named the Tournament’s Most Valuable Player. Sophomore center Terrin Johnson (Curtis/Brooklyn, NY) also pitched in for City Tech with 12 points for the second straight game.
With the win, Coach Amalbert has six CUNYAC Championships (his previous titles were at Hunter College) and heads to his sixth NCAA Tournament, his first since 1995. At CUNYAC’s pre-tournament luncheon last week, Amalbert announced his retirement from collegiate coaching after 23 seasons (16 at City Tech, seven at Hunter).
The team savors its victory.
“ It was a very emotional game for me,” said Amalbert. “But I’m especially happy for the program that I helped build over the past six years as we went through the NCAA process. This win puts City Tech on the NCAA map for the first time and I couldn’t come up with a better way to finish my coaching career here.
“Our full court press keyed all of the runs we had tonight,” Amalbert added, “It was great facing Tony Petosa [CSI’s head coach for the past 15 years] one last time. They’re always prepared and Mike Stewart is one of Tony’s all-time best players.”
Michael Nebavlakis led CSI with 19 points and five rebounds, while senior center John Smith had 16 points and nine rebounds. CSI senior guard Stewart was held to 12 points on 6-20 shooting from the field. Smith and Stewart were named to the All-Tournament team along with City Tech’s Forteau and Saylee, CCNY’s Michael Loubier and Lehman’s Sekani Francis, recently named CUNYAC Player of the Year for 2004-05.
