The losing ways were continuing with the St. Peter’s College men’s basketball program and the Peacocks were spiraling toward oblivion for yet another season. The Peacocks had lost eight of nine games and were headed in the wrong direction. The seasonal mark stood at 5-15.
For a program that won all of five games two years ago in John Dunne’s first season as head coach and six a year later in his second year, this was a team, a program, a coach at the crossroads.
But lately, there has been some light at the end of the tunnel. The Peacocks have won four of their last six games and three in a row. Yes, the Peacocks have actually won three straight games for the first time since the beginning of last year.
The Peacocks enjoyed two thrilling victories last week, beating Canisius and Rider on consecutive last-second shots.
“I’m really happy with the way the guys are playing lately, and it shows the potential that we have in the future,” Dunne said. “Who knows what happens if we don’t get a chance to get the last-second tip-in [Canisius] or make the last-second shot [Rider]? But the winning make things a lot nicer and gives the guys some confidence. They’ve really been working very hard. They kept their confidence up throughout.”
Now, the Peacocks’ record is 9-17 overall and 6-10 in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. They’re not exactly world beaters right now, but the prospects look a lot better.
“It could have been easy for them to go through the motions, but they really want to win,” Dunne said. “Now, late in the games, they really believe that they’re going to win. They believe they can and they have confidence they can.”
Part of the reason for Dunne’s optimism has been the improved play of forwards Ryan Bacon and Akeem Gooding, who have now given the Peacocks four legitimate scoring threats to go along with guards Wesley Jenkins and Eddie Leon.
“For Ryan, he’s playing right now the way we thought he would eventually play a year from now,” Dunne said. “It’s happened a year sooner. He’s our hardest worker. When Akeem is playing well, then we’re really much stronger. He’s definitely a confidence guy and needs that confidence.”
Bacon, Jenkins and Leon are all underclassmen and will return next year.
“We’re excited about the guys we have coming back,” Dunne said. “We’re getting better and looking toward the future. I felt we had to show some improvement this year in terms of competitiveness and chemistry, but I wasn’t worried about wins and losses. But just the overall feeling is better now that we’ve won a few games. But we have to realize that as quickly as we’ve won games, it can turn around in a hurry if we don’t stay focused.”
At least the prospects look so much brighter…
West New York Police Lt. Mike Indri and his Dignity Promotions group are putting together another boxing show that will take place Wednesday, Feb. 25 at the Medieval Times in Lyndhurst.
His first card in October was “a true learning experience,” because boxers who were slated to be on the card backed out during the days prior to the event.
“Even after everything that happened, I would consider it a positive experience,” Indri said. “I’m hopelessly addicted to the sport. There is no rational explanation to it. I want to continue to promote fights the right way. We’re trying to get local guys and showcase their talents.”
Among the fighters on the Dignity Promotions card Wednesday are Hoboken light heavyweight Kyle White (making his professional debut), Union City middleweight Nelson Roldan, and Jersey City featherweight Jose Ortiz.
Also on the card is promising cruiserweight Bobby Gunn (20-3-1, 17 KO’s) and Fairview’s Archak Termliksetian, who was featured on the reality show, “The Contender.”
For ticket information, contact Indri at (201) 741-4994. It should be a good boxing card in a good venue…
Congrats to Lincoln’s Samard Walker-Butler, who captured the gold medal in the shot put at the NJSIAA Group II state championships last weekend in Toms River. Walker-Butler has earned a berth to this weekend’s NJSIAA Meet of Champions…
Ok, here are the predictions for the HCIAA Super Saturday of basketball championships that will take place Saturday at St. Peter’s College’s Yanitelli Center. Hagueini likes St. Peter’s Prep and Hoboken in the two boys’ final games and Bayonne and Holy Family Academy in the two girls’ title contests…
As for the HCIAA, we’re happy to see that the title games are going back to Harvard on the Boulevard for the final league championships. Even with the formation of the new leagues and divisions that will be in place for next season, here’s to hoping that there will still be a Hudson County Tournament in the future. – Jim Hague
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