The Morrisville State basketball team gets ready for their first ever Sweet 16 game
/ Tom Eschen
MORRISVILLE -- While most of the team is in familiar territory, the Morrisville State men's basketball program is in uncharted waters, as they are in the Division III Sweet 16 for the first time in school history.
The team has made their run with Section III basketball players as their main source of talent. 9 players are from the Central New York region. Mickey Davis, a J-D alum, is the team's leading scorer. He, along with current SU guard Brandon Triche, helped lead the Red Rams to a state championship in 2008.
Other Morrisville State players include Brandon Hanks, who was part of a Section III Champion Henninger team in 2008, Andrew Lucio, former Solvay point guard, and Kucjok and Gai Ater, both Bishop Grimes graduates.
"I played against Brandon Hanks, I played against Andrew Lucio and Jordan Prior from my high school days, and Tom Wilk, we played against each other," Mickey Davis, who averages 12.2 points per game, says. "It's good to have people that I know, that I played against just being on the team with me and just having fun with it."
Head Coach Joseph Smith says he likes the local connections his athletes have, not only to bring the community out to the games, but also for the team chemistry.
"They kind of pick on each other from being in different schools, from rival schools in high school," Smith says. "It makes the camaraderie really tight."
Morrisville State plays at St. Mary's College (Md.) at 7:30 p.m. on Saturday.
