Buck (Warsaw, Ind.) ends his career as one of the greatest players in USMMA history. A pair of free throws with 13:54 remaining brought him to the 1,500 plateau, and with his 13-point, 10-rebound performance, the 2005 ESPN The Magazine Academic All-District I College Division Men's Basketball Second Team member ends his illustrious career with 1,506 rebounds and 787 rebounds.
USMMA (16-11) held the lead for the first 25 minutes of the contest, including a 37-34 halftime advantage. However, the Mariners were able to muster just seven points in the first eight minutes of the second frame - all from the charity stripe - before a 3-pointer by Buck with 12:14 to go pulled the Blue and Gray to within 48-47.
The Mariners took the lead again at 54-53 when Paul Tricarico made a driving lay-up with 8:13 to go. But Mount Saint Mary (16-10) held the Mariners off the scoreboard for the next four minutes, and the closest USMMA got after the Blue Knights took the lead was with 3:52 left when Zach Wyatte's (11 points, eight rebounds) lay-in made the MSMC lead 58-56.
But Mount Saint Mary got a "dagger" 3-pointer from the left wing from Brandon Weldon (19 points, 6-for-10 FG) with 1:57 to go to sport a five-point advantage, and made three of four free throws down the stretch to seal the victory for the Blue Knights, who travel to Farmingdale State for the Skyline title game Saturday night at 8 p.m.
Lou DeCarlo added 10 points and three assists for USMMA, while senior Joe Hart contributed six points and eight rebounds in his final collegiate game off the bench. The team's other senior, Sky Holm, was 2-for-5 from the floor with four points and two rebounds.
Newspaper Box Score USMMA-Kings Point vs Mount Saint Mary College 02/25/05 8:00 p.m. at Newburgh, NY At Newburgh, NY MOUNT SAINT MARY COLLEGE 66, USMMA-KINGS POINT 60 USMMA-KINGS POINT (16-11) Buck, Josh 3-5 6-10 13; Wyatte, Zach 5-14 1-3 11; DeCarlo, Lou 4-6 0-0 10; Kelly, Brian 2-5 1-3 7; Hart, Joe 2-6 1-1 6; Tricarico, Paul 3-8 0-0 6; Holm, Sky 2-5 0-0 4; McDade, Stephen 1-6 0-0 3; Sanders, Jimmy 0-2 0-0 0; Hanson, Eric 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 22-57 9-17 60. MOUNT SAINT MARY COLLEGE (16-10) Sergio Guzman 9-14 3-3 21; Brandon Weldon 6-10 5-8 19; J.D. Fogarty 3-5 0-0 9; Kenny Lane 3-6 1-2 7; Roberto King 1-11 2-5 4; Mike Hoyt 1-3 2-2 4; Kieran Begley 1-1 0-0 2; C.J. Burdett 0-0 0-0 0; Matt Cutney 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 24-52 13-20 66. USMMA-Kings Point............. 37 23 - 60 Mount Saint Mary College...... 34 32 - 66 3-point goals-USMMA-Kings Point 7-16 (Kelly, Brian 2-3; DeCarlo, Lou 2-2; Buck, Josh 1-3; McDade, Stephen 1-3; Hart, Joe 1-4; Tricarico, Paul 0-1), Mount Saint Mary College 5-13 (J.D. Fogarty 3-4; Brandon Weldon 2-4; Roberto King 0-2; Mike Hoyt 0-1; Matt Cutney 0-2). Fouled out--USMMA-Kings Point-Buck, Josh, Mount Saint Mary College-None. Rebounds-USMMA-Kings Point 38 (Buck, Josh 10), Mount Saint Mary College 35 (Sergio Guzman 11). Assists-USMMA-Kings Point 11 (Tricarico, Paul 3; DeCarlo, Lou 3), Mount Saint Mary College 14 (Matt Cutney 5). Total fouls-USMMA-Kings Point 18, Mount Saint Mary College 14. A-900 Skyline Conference Tournament semifinal game. MSMC advances to Skyline finals and will play opponent TBA on Saturday.