In some years, the MBWA has had the opportunity to present a special award, when the collegiate Metropolitan Basketball landscape has been changed in dramatic fashion. Here are the stories of such recent occasions:
2019 • HOSTOS WOMEN WIN NJCAA DIVISION III NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP
The No. 1 ranked and top-seeded Hostos Community College women’s basketball team put the exclamation point on its magical season with its second-straight NJCAA Division III National Championship via a 73-63 victory over third-seeded Owens Community College on Saturday at the Arthur L. Scott Center at Northampton Community College in Bethlehem, Penn.
The Caimans, who close out their historic 2018-19 campaign at 29-5, are the first team to capture back-to-back national titles since Rock Valley College in 2012-13.
“This feels good, because these girls worked so hard all year long,” said Hostos head coach DeVernie Winston, below left. “For them to actually achieve the one thing that they set out for, it is just an amazing feeling. It is still taking time for me to soak it all in. I am so happy for the girls.”
“It feels great. The team played really hard. I am just happy we prevailed. We got through it as a team,” said Caimans sophomore guard Skydajah Patterson, the NJCAA Tournament’s Most Valuable Player (above right).
Sophomore forward Kayla Wilson, the 2018 NJCAA National Tournament MVP, echoed similar sentiments: “It feels amazing. A lot of teams don’t even get the chance to come to the national tournament, let alone win it twice. That’s different right there.”
Leading 12-10 late in the first quarter, Hostos — whose campus is located off the Grand Concourse in the Bronx --- closed out the period on a 7-0 burst to widen the gap to a nine-point difference at 19-10. Patterson and freshman center Apilyn Bonny each netted a lay-up in the run. Sophomore guard Ellease Billings also added a bucket, on a tip-in.
Owens, whose two campuses are based in Findlay and Toledo, Ohio, managed to cut the deficit to two possessions (23-17) in the second quarter, before a furious 12-2 burst by Hostos put the Caimans ahead by double digits more than midway through the session. Sophomore guard Regine Blakney nailed back-to-back 3-pointers to close out the run, making it a 35-19 game.
Hostos, which eventually took a 42-24 advantage into halftime, went up by as many as 20 points in the contest, as the reigning national champions coasted to their second-consecutive title.
Blakney and Patterson scored 15 points apiece in the victory. Wilson posted a double-double with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Billings had nine points on 4-of-7 shooting.
2006 • MBWA RECOGNIZES BURTTS OF IONA WITH FATHER-SON AWARD
Steve Burtt, the father, and Steve Burtt, the son, were presented with a special collegiate Father-Son Recognition Award by the Met Basketball Writers Association at the 73rd annual NIT/MBWA Haggerty Awards Dinner on Wednesday evening, April 19, at the Giants Stadium Club in East Rutherford, N.J.
The Burtts, who both played guard, this season achieved the distinction of becoming the most prolific father-son scoring duo in the history of the NCAA where both players have scored at least 1,000 points. In this case, both players surpassed the 2,000-point plateau.Steve Burtt, the father, tallied 2,534 points in a four-year career at Iona College in New Rochelle, N.Y., that concluded in 1984, before the 3-point goal was instituted.
The younger Steve Burtt, a senior who just concluded his four-year playing career at Iona, rang up 2,034 points.The 4,568 points amassed by the Burtts surpasses the next-best 3,833 points posted by Jimmy Walker of Providence (2,045, 1964-67) and Jalen Rose of Michigan (1,788, 1991-94). It also far exceeds the same-school 3,125 points scored by Johnny McConathy (1,092, 1947-51) and Mike McConathy (2,033, 1973-77) at Northwestern State.
About the father: Co-winner of the Haggerty Award with Chris Mullin of St. John’s in 1984, Steve Burtt is Iona’s all-time leading scorer and is still listed among the career leaders in the NCAA Record Book. His 2,534 points are third-most all-time in the Met area behind Keydren Clark of St. Peter’s (2003-06) with 3,058 points and Terrance Bailey of Wagner (1983-87), who had 2,591 points. No. 4 on the Met scoring list is Bill Bradley of Princeton (1962-65) with 2,503 points. Burtt set a Gaels single-season record for field goals made in 1983-84 with 309.About the son: Steve Burtt’s 2,034 points are second-best all-time at Iona. He holds the Gaels career records for 3-point goals made (263) and free-throw percentage (.831), and single season records set in 2005-06 for points (780), scoring average (25.2 ppg) and 3-point goals (96).
2005 • MBWA HONORS HOSTOS MEN'S & MONROE WOMEN'S TEAMS
The Hostos Community College men and Monroe College women's teams have been named recipients of 2004-05 NIT/MBWA Team Achievement Awards for their outstanding seasons. The presentations were made Wednesday, April 20, during the 72nd NIT/MBWA Haggerty Awards dinner at the Meadowlands in East Rutherford, N.J.
Just a third-year program, Hostos, which is based in the Bronx, N.Y., compiled a 25-8 record enroute to winning the NJCAA men's Division III national championship. The Caimans, who also won a second straight CUNYAC title, defeated Joliet, Ill., 73-71 for the national title. It marked the first-ever NJCAA championship by a City University of New York Athletic Conference team.
Monroe, with campuses in the Bronx and New Rochelle, N.Y., finished 32-2 as runnerup in the NJCAA women's Division III national tournament. The Lady Mustangs defeated Joliet 82-74 in overtime in the semifinals before falling in the championship game 64-60 to Anoka-Ramsey of Cambridge, Minn.
Fantasia Goodwin, a 6-0 freshman forward from Yonkers, N.Y. (MLK High School), was named an NJCAA Division III first team All-American after leading the nation in three categories this past season: 26.3 ppg scoring, 17.0 rpg rebounding, 6.2 spg steals. Her 84 points in the three-game national tournament was third highest in history.
-- MBWA --