The Washington College men's basketball team turned in a breakthrough season in 2009-10. Just two years removed from a five-win season, the Shoremen finished last season with a 13-10 overall record, including an 11-7 mark in Centennial Conference play which earned them the third seed in the five-team conference tournament - their first Centennial playoff berth in four years. In his fourth and final season, Andrew Chambers became the first Shoreman in nine years to earn All-Centennial Conference first-team honors, while Kevin Breslin (Hagerstown, MD/St. Maria Goretti) was named to the second team. Head coach Rob Nugent was tabbed as the conference's Coach of the Year.
As a result, the 2010-11 season will tip-off with the Shoremen in a relatively unfamiliar position, at least for this group of players. Rather than being cast in the role of scrappy underdogs, the Shoremen are a veteran squad expected to be significant players in the conference championship hunt.
Co-captains Breslin and point guard Dylan Bernstein (Laystonsville, MD/Gaithersburg), the team's lone senior, return in the starting backcourt. Breslin averaged 22.4 points per game during the last five games of the season a year ago to finish with a scoring average of 15.4 points per game, second on the team and sixth-best in the conference. He also collected 4.8 rebounds per game and shot 84-of-95 from the free-throw line for a percentage of 88.4%, second-best in the Centennial Conference and 11th-best in all of Division III.
Bernstein stepped into the starting line-up a year ago as a facilitator and hard-nosed defender. Junior forwards Chris Olsen (Ellicott City, MD/Mount St. Joseph) and Adam Naymick(Hanover, PA/Delone Catholic) made a combined 21 starts last season and averaged a combined 7.8 points and 6.7 rebounds in a combined 27.9 minutes per game.
A trio of junior guards who came primarily off the bench last season will help pick up the scoring load for the graduated Chambers, who led the team in scoring with 15.7 points per game, andAlan Kines, who averaged 10.7 points per game. Sal Schittino (Ellicott City, MD/Loyola Blakefield) knocked down 29 three-pointers last season and averaged 7.9 points in 19.1 minutes per game, while Doug Holcombe (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) averaged 5.1 points in 15.4 minutes and Mark DeBoy (Baltimore, MD/Mount St. Joseph) averaged 3.5 points in 11.5 minutes.
The Shoremen's seven other returning players will be competing for increased playing time this season. At forward, sophomores Chris Soper (Poolesville, MD/Poolesville) (eight games played), Charlie McShane (West Deptford, NJ/West Deptford) (seven), and Tony Hawkins(Mt. Ephraim, NJ/Haddon Township) (five games) and junior Max Finch (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) (five games) will be competing for playing time. Sophomores Wes Bill (Blue Bell, PA/Germantown Friends) (seven games) and Drew MacMahon (Middleburg, VA/Loudoun Valley) (four games) and junior Ryan Kearney (Glenolden, PA/Haverford School) (three games) will be looking for increased minutes in the backcourt.
Four freshmen join the Shoremen for the 2010-11 season - forwards Kevin Cunningham (Mt. Laurel, NJ/Lenape) and BJ Poss (Huntingtown, MD/Huntingtown) and guards Michael Giroux (Damascus, MD/Damascus) and Donovan Womack (Newark, DE/Delcastle). Also joining the Shoremen this season is junior guard James Hetzel (Fallston, MD/John Carroll), who previously played for the junior varsity squad.
A new assistant coach joins Nugent, now in his 10th season at the school, on the sideline. Robert Hughes brings a strong coaching background with stops at Drew and Division I Saint Joseph's to the Shoremen's staff. Assistant coach Bob Bennett returns for his second year with the program, while 2010 graduate and four-year student assistant Dominick Iaquinto returns in a new role as an assistant coach.
The Shoremen will be looking to once again use their up-tempo offense and pressure defense to dominate the turnover battle. The Shoremen led the Centennial Conference in turnover margin for the third straight season in 2009-10 and their mark of +7.3 per game was the third best in all of Division III, trailing only ECAC Upstate Tournament finalist Brockport State (+10.4) and ultra-high paced, full-court pressing Grinnell (+7.7). The Shoremen also led the Centennial in steals per game (10.52) and offensive rebounds per game (12.70) last season.
The Shoremen will tip-off the 2010-11 season November 15th at Delmarva rival Wesley College. The annual Pride of Maryland Championship begins later that week, with the Shoremen hosting Stevenson in a first round game on November 17th before the tournament moves to Stevenson for the final two rounds on the 19th and 20th. The non-conference slate also features a game at Division I Maryland-Eastern Shore on December 21st, as well as a road game at Hood three days earlier and a home game against Eastern Shore rival Salisbury on January 3rd.
Centennial Conference play for the Shoremen opens on November 23rd when they travel to Lancaster, PA, to face defending conference champion Franklin & Marshall. The Shoremen were one of only two teams to beat F&M in the Diplomats' 17 home games last season.