The St. Francis Brooklyn Terriers men's basketball program represents St. Francis College in intercollegiate men's basketball. The team is a member of the Division I Northeast Conference. The Terriers play on the Peter Aquilone Court at the Generoso Pope Athletic Complex located on the St. Francis College Brooklyn Heights campus. The Terriers have also hosted home games at Madison Square Garden and at the Barclays Center.
The St. Francis Brooklyn men's basketball program was founded in 1896 and is the oldest collegiate program in New York City. The Terriers have an overall record of 1180-1243 , 48.7 W-L%, over a 97-year span from the 1920-1921 to the 2016-2017 season. The program has won 6 regular season championships and has participated in 5 National Invitational Tournaments (4 postseason and 1 preseason). As of 2010, Glenn Braica was announced as the 17th head coach in the history of the St. Francis Terriers men's basketball program. Braica was previously an assistant under Norm Roberts at St. John's University. Braica, who is in his sixth year with the team, has qualified for the NEC tournament six consecutive years and in 2015 led the team to its first post season tournament in 52 years.
The Terriers are one of only seven NCAA Division I programs in New York City and in 2011 attending a Terriers game was named one reason to love New York by New York Magazine in their seventh annual Reasons to Love New York 2011 piece. The Terriers are also one of only five original Division I programs (since 1939) to have never participated in the NCAA tournament. The Terriers have been one win away from participating on three occasions, first in the 2000-01 season, then in the 2002-03 season, and again in the 2014-15 season. Beginning on November 27, 2012, St. Francis College rebranded its Athletics programs from St. Francis (NY) to St. Francis Brooklyn. The change reflects the move of the Nets to Brooklyn and putting Brooklyn back on the map as a basketball mecca.
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History
Early years (1896-1940)
The St. Francis College's men's basketball program was founded in 1896 and is the oldest collegiate program in New York City. The program had players on the court only 5 years after Dr. James Naismith invented the game in 1891. The College's first official game came in 1901 against Brown University. The Boys from Brooklyn, as they were referred to, finished the 1901 season with a 13-1 mark. From the 1902 to the 1920 season the Terrier basketball records are incomplete. Then from 1920 to 1940 the Terriers compiled a 246-187 record and established themselves as a premier basketball program in New York City, playing their home games in Brooklyn. The Terriers had played as Independents for most of these years, but in 1933 they were a founding member of the now defunct Metropolitan New York Conference.
The Terriers had 6 head coaches during this period, the most successful of which was Rody Cooney. Who in his 9 years at the helm of the program didn't have a single losing season and compiled a 116-77 record. During this period the Terriers also had their first 20-win season, head coach Frank Brennan led the 1922-23 Terrier squad to a 21-8 record.
Golden years (1941-1968)
Joseph Brennan era (1941-47)
Joseph Brennan is the Terriers head coach with the highest winning percentage and he was also elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 1975. Brennan helped make the Terriers into a popular team during New York City's Basketball glory days of the 1940s and 50s. Due to their popularity the Terriers would play around 2 or 3 games a year at Madison Square Garden and the Terrier's were one of the few programs hosting big Division I games in Brooklyn at the Park Slope Armory, their home court. Brennan's 1942 squad averaged 59 points per game, which was quite high during those years. The Terriers also had the first college player to score 20 or more points at Madison Square Garden, Vincent T. Agoglia. He did it twice in the 1941-1942 season, first against LaSalle College of Philadelphia. Brennan ended his head coaching career with a 90-46 (66.2%) record over 7 seasons.
Daniel Lynch era (1948-1968)
The greatest head coach in the programs history is Daniel Lynch. Lynch was a graduate of St. Francis College and played basketball at his alma mater from 1934-38 under head coach Rody Cooney. When Lynch took over in 1948 the Terriers became the first team in the New York City area to have a game televised. The Terriers defeated Seton Hall in its inaugural telecast on WPIX. Lynch is the Terrier head coach with the most wins in the programs history (283). Part of that wins total came during a 6-year span from 1950 to 1956, where Lynch guided the Terriers to five consecutive winning seasons going 121-43.
From 1949-1951 the Terriers participated in 4 National Catholic Invitational Tournaments (NCIT). The NCIT was a premier post-season tournament in those years. The Terriers went to the NCIT finals three consecutive times and won the Championship in 1951. Lynch's 1950-51 squad defeated the Seattle University Redhawks 93-79 in the Championship game. Ray Rudzinski scored 26 points, Vernon Stokes scored 22 and Roy Reardon scored 21 points in the NCIT Championship that took place in Albany, New York.
The Terriers appeared in the 1955 NAIA Division I Men's Basketball Tournament, losing in the first round to Quincy University. St. Francis first participated in the NAIA District 31 playoffs to qualify for the tournament, in it they defeated St. Peter's (63-55) and Panzer College (80-70). Their record in the tournament is 0-1 and have only made one appearance in their history.
Lynch also led the Terriers to 3 NIT appearances (1954, 1956, and 1963). Lynch's 1953-54 squad won the Metropolitan New York Conference Regular Season Championship and were invited to the 1954 NIT where they defeated Louisville in the first round before losing to Holy Cross in the Quarterfinals. The 1955-56 squad also won the Metropolitan New York Conference Regular Season Championship and participated in the 1956 NIT. They went as far as the 3rd place game where they lost to St. Joseph's to finish in fourth place. The 1955-1956 season was the Terriers best, as Coach Lynch led them to a 21-4 record that ranked them at 13th nationally in the AP polls. The squad included legends Al Innis, Dan Mannix, Walt Adamushko, and Tony D'Elia. The team at one point won 18 straight games and upset Niagra to reach the NIT Semi-Finals, before falling to Dayton. In the 1963 National Invitation Tournament the Terriers were one of 12 teams selected for the tournament. Lynch's team was the 4th best defense in the country and faced the best offense in Miami. St. Francis had the bigger Miami on the ropes with a 66-65 lead with 3:38 to play, led by Jim Raftery who scored 23 points. Yet the Terrires went on to lose 71-70 to Miami which featured future NBA all-star Rick Barry.
After the Metropolitan New York Conference became defunct in 1963, the Terriers became Independents before joining the Metropolitan Collegiate Conference. The Terriers were a part of the MCC for all four years in which it was active, winning the 1966-67 Conference Regular Season Championship after going 7-2 in conference play. Lynch ended his coaching career with a 283-237 (54.4%) record over a 21-year span. After retiring as the head coach, Lynch became the full-time Athletic Director at St. Francis College, a post he held while he was head coach for several years.
Dark years (1969-90)
From the 1969-70 season to the 1990-91 season, a span of 22 years the St. Francis Terriers men's basketball program only had 3 winning seasons. Two of those 3 winning seasons came during the tenure of Lou Rossini, who was formerly a legendary head coach for NYU and Columbia. During those 22 years the Terriers went through 6 head coaches and hit a program low in the 1983-84 season going 2-26. In particular the tenure's of Gene Roberti (1979-84) and Bob Valvano (1984-88) saw the program hit all-time low's in winning percentage, during those two tenures the Terriers went 81-166 (32.7%). After Valvano, Rich Zvosec took the reins of the Terriers in 1988 and became the youngest Division I coach in the country at age 27. Zvosec produced a winning season 3 years into his tenure going 15-14. The winning season was only the 3rd in 22 years and the first in 11 seasons, since Rossini accomplished the feat in 1978-79. Because of this feat, Zvosec was awarded the 1991 NEC Coach of the Year award.
Also during this time St. Francis College moved its campus and in 1971 the Terriers settled into a new home at the Pope Physical Education Center. Other transitions during this time included St. Francis joining a new conference in 1981, the Northeast Conference. From 1968 until 1980, the Terriers played as Division I independents eventually becoming founding members of the Northeast Conference in 1981.
Ron Ganulin era (1991-04)
Ron Ganulin's 14 seasons were one of contrasts, but Ganulin helped restore the program to its glory days somewhat. Before joining the Terriers, Ganulin was fresh off the 1990 National Championship as an assistant with the 1989-90 UNLV Runnin' Rebels basketball team. Ganulin's tenure began with several losing seasons, his 1993-94 squad went 1-26 and finished last in the Northeast Conference. Yet by the 1997-98 season Ganulin's squad's began to turn it around stringing together 5 consecutive winning seasons from 1997-2001. Ganulin's 1998-99 team won 20 games, the first time in 43 years that the Terriers had accomplished the feat.
Ganulin accumulated 187 wins and was twice named the Northeast Conference's Coach of the Year. Ganulin's tenure at St. Francis include finishing with a .500 or better record in the Northeast Conference eight straight years, at that time the longest active streak in the conference and making the NEC Tournament each of his 14 seasons as head coach. They also reached the NEC semi-finals five times and had two NEC tournament championship game appearances (2001 and 2003). Those Championship game appearances are the closest the Terriers have been to making the NCAA Tournament. From 1998 through 2004, St. Francis posted a 78-36 conference record, which was best in the NEC. During that span, Ganulin guided the Terriers to two Northeast Conference Regular Season Championships.
Also during Ganulin's tenure St. Francis made their first appearance in a National Tournament since 1963, by being selected to participate in the 2003 NIT Season Tip-Off. The Terriers lost in the first round to Massachusetts. The 2003 NIT Tip-off invitation was a product of the Terriers success in the late 1990s and early 2000s. Yet Ganulin's accomplishments did not save him from being fired at the end of the 2004-05 season, after posting a 13-15 record.
Brian Nash era (2005-09)
Brian Nash was head coach for 5 seasons, during which time the Terriers lost much of the momentum gained during Ganulin's tenure. Nash's squad's never produced a winning season and missed the NEC Tournament three times in five seasons. Nash compiled a 47-99 record before resigning in 2009.
Glenn Braica era (2010-present)
On April 29, 2010, Glenn Braica was announced as the 17th head coach in the history of the St. Francis Terriers men's basketball program. Braica was a former assistant at St. Francis under Ron Ganulin for 15 years and was an assistant at St. John's under Norm Roberts for another 6 years.
Braica inherited a depleted team that had not had a winning season in six years and quickly added 5 signings in his first year. This led to a 15-15 record and a berth in the NEC Tournament where they lost in the first round to Central Connecticut 62-64. In his second season, Braica led the Terriers to their second NEC tournament with the 4th seed. They went 15-15 overall and 12-6 in the NEC, their most wins since the 2003-04 season and they hosted their first home tournament game since 1997, a 72-80 loss to Quinnipiac. Additionally, Braica was selected as the 2012 NEC Jim Phelan coach of the year and as the 2012 NABC District 18 Co-Coach of the Year. After two 15-15 seasons, the Terriers posted their first losing record at 12-18 overall and 8-10 in conference play. St. Francis Brooklyn still qualified for the NEC tournament with the 8th seed and lost to first seed Robert Morris at the Sewall Center 57-75 in the opening round.
Prior to the 2013 season, Braica announced that he hired former head coach Ron Ganulin as an assistant. This would be their second stint together, but with Briaca at the helm this time. In 2013, the Terriers were selected to participate in the Maui Invitational Tournament as part of the Mainland Bracket for the first time in the programs history. Braica was able to guide his Terriers to a 9-6 non-conference record which was one win shy of being the first NEC team to win 10 non-conference games in a season. Part of this success was the Terriers stingy defense and big road wins against Miami, Florida Atlantic and Stony Brook. The Terriers ended the 2013-14 season at 18-14, their first time winning 18 games since the 2001-02 season. The Terriers qualified for the NEC Tournament with the 4th seed and lost to Mount St. Mary's in the opening round.
The 2014-15 Terriers for the first time as members of the NEC, were selected as the preseason NEC favorites by league head coaches. The program was also selected to participate in the 3rd annual 2014 Barclays Center Classic. On January 31, 2015, the Terriers gained sole possession of 1st place in the NEC after defeating LIU Brooklyn in the annual Battle of Brooklyn. For St. Francis Brooklyn, it marks the first time they have been alone in first place after 10 games since starting 8-2 back in the 2003-04 season. That year the Terriers finished 12-6 and shared the NEC regular season title with Monmouth. On February 21, 2015 the Terriers clinched the NEC Regular Season Championship and recorded their first 20+ win season since the 1998-99 season. The Terriers closed out the regular season at 21-10 overall and 15-3 in conference play. Prior to the beginning of the NEC Tournament, the NEC announced Glenn Braica as the Jim Phelan Coach of the Year, Jalen Cannon as the NEC Player of the Year and Amdy Fall as the NEC Defensive Player of the Year. In the NEC Tournament, the Terriers defeated LIU Brooklyn and Saint Francis (PA) to reach the Championship game, where they lost to Robert Morris. Because of the loss the Terriers didn't receive the NEC's automatic NCAA bid, instead they participated in the 2015 National Invitation Tournament by virtue of having won the NEC regular season championship. It is the programs first NIT postseason appearance since 1963. The Terriers traveled to Richmond, Virginia to face the Spiders and lost 74-84 in the First Round of the NIT. The Terriers ended their season at 23-12 overall, tying the programs record for wins in a season last set in 1953-54.
St Francis College Basketball Video
Current roster
Yearly record
Under Glenn Braica:
Tournament results
NCIT results
St. Francis participated in 4 consecutive National Catholic Invitational Tournaments from 1949 to 1952 and won 1 Championship in 1951. Their overall record is 10-3 in their 4 appearances and they made the Finals in three of their four appearances.
NAIA results
The Terriers appeared in the 1955 NAIA Men's Basketball Championship tournament. St. Francis first participated in the NAIA District 31 playoffs to qualify for the tournament, in it they defeated St. Peter's (63-55) and Panzer College (80-70). Their record in the tournament is 0-1 and have only made one appearance in their history.
NIT results
The Terriers have appeared in four National Invitation Tournaments and one NIT Season Tip-Off. Their combined record is 3-5 (0-1, Tip-Off) and they reached the third-place game in 1956, losing to Saint Joseph's and finishing 4th in the tournament. In the 1963 National Invitation Tournament the Terriers were one of 12 teams selected for the tournament. The Terriers who were coached by Daniel Lynch were the 4th best defense in the country and faced the best offense in Miami. St. Francis had the bigger Miami on the ropes with a 66-65 lead with 3:38 to play, led by Jim Raftery who scored 23 points. Yet the Terrires went on to lose 71-70 to Miami which featured future NBA all-star Rick Barry.
Coaching history
Rivalry
The fiercest rival of the Terriers are the Long Island University Blackbirds and they have competed since 1928. Beginning in the 1975-76 season the two programs formalized their rivalry with the annual Battle of Brooklyn game. The name of the annual match-up is in reference to the first major battle of the American Revolutionary War, the Battle of Brooklyn. Due to the location of the two campuses in the New York City borough of Brooklyn and their close proximity, less than 1 mile, the title of the game is apt. The Battle of Brooklyn is dedicated to William Lai and Daniel Lynch, former athletic directors at Long Island University and St. Francis College, respectively. At the conclusion of the game the most valuable player is presented with the Lai-Lynch Trophy. As of 2017, St. Francis has a Battle record of 18-24 against LIU. The annual tournament is held at the host campus and the host alternates annually.
The Terriers also compete against Wagner College Seahawks, and it is referred to as Battle of the Verrazano due to St. Francis College in Brooklyn being separated from Wagner College in Staten Island by the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. The Battle of the Verrazano dates back to the 1973-1974 season, but is not as formal as the Battle of Brooklyn.
Record vs. NEC Opponents
Terrier records
Other notable records include Vernon Stokes leading the country in field goal percentage with 59.5% shooting during the 1952-53 season. Ray Minlends 1998-99 record for points in a season was also second in the country that year behind Alvin Young's (Niagra) 728. Greg Nunn (1997-01) was the first player in the program to record 500 points and 500 assists then Brent Jones (2011-15) joined him in 2015 and soon exceeded him by becoming the first player to record 1,000 points and 500 assists. That same year Jalen Cannon became the first Terrier to record 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds. Cannon then became the St. Francis Brooklyn all-time leader in rebounds with 1,019, the Northeast Conference all-time leader in rebounds with 1,033 and the St. Francis Brooklyn all-time scorer with 1,633 points.
Accolades
Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame
- Joseph Brennan, inducted as a coach in 1975
- Dick Bavetta ('62), inducted as a referee in 2015
All-Americans
- Jalen Cannon ('15), 2015 AP Honorable Mention
Northeast Conference (1981-present)
Terriers in professional leagues
NBA
There has been a total of 11 Terriers drafted by NBA teams.
Other leagues
- Dagur Jonsson, signed with Grindavik of the Icelandic Men's Premier League
- Tyreek Jewell ('16), signed with Satria Muda Pertamina Jakarta of the Indonesian Basketball League.
- Chris Hooper ('16), signed with the Reading Rockets of the Division 1 English Basketball League.
- Jalen Cannon ('15), signed with Jefes de Fuerza Lagunera of the Mexican National Professional Basketball league, the top league of basketball in Mexico.
- Ben Mockford ('14), named to Great Britain's senior squad for the EuroBasket and signed with Cáceres of the Spanish LEB Oro league.
- Akeem Johnson ('13), signed with Kauhajoen Karhu of the Korisliiga, the top league of basketball in Finland.
- Stefan Perunicic ('12), signed with Aries Trikala B.C. of the Greek Basket League.
- Akeem Bennett ('11), 1st pick in the 8th round by the Springfield Armor of the NBA Development League.
- Ricky Cadell ('11), signed with F. C. Porto, of the Portuguese Basketball League.
- Alex Harrington ('11), playing with the Lake Michigan Admirals of the Premier Basketball League as of 2013.
- Kayode Ayeni ('10), playing with Qatar's Al-Arabi Sports Club as of 2013.
- Tanel Tein ('99), Estonian retired professional basketball player.
- Richard Lugo, played one season with the Terriers (1996-97) and went on to have a 13-year career in professional basketball.
Retired numbers
St. Francis basketball has honored only one former player, Denis McDermott by retiring his number. When McDermott graduated he was the career leading scorer (third all-time as of 2013-14) in the programs history and was drafted by the New York Knicks in 1974. McDermott also has the program's highest scoring average at 21.3 ppg over 74 career games.
Notable games
- On February 11, 1939, St. Francis College won the first double-overtime game in Madison Square Garden history against Manhattan College, 53-49.
- On February 2, 1952, St. Francis participated in and won New York City's first ever quadruple overtime basketball game (professional or collegiate) against Seton Hall, 82-70.
- On March 17, 1956, Al Inniss set a St. Francis single-game rebounding record with 37 against Lafayette in the First Round of the 1956 National Invitation Tournament. That season the Terriers went as far as the semifinals in the NIT, finishing 4th. The 37 rebounds are still a Madison Square Garden and National Invitational Tournament record for most rebounds in a college game.
- On January 10, 1970, John Conforti made 20 field goals and scored 45 points against Wagner, both are Terrier records.
- On March 5, 2001, St. Francis was 14 minutes away from the school's first appearance in the NCAA tournament. They were facing Monmouth in the Championship game of the 2001 NEC Tournament and enjoying a 20-point lead, when it unraveled and they ended up losing 64-67 in a nationally televised game on ESPN.
- On February 22, 2003, the Terriers hosted the LIU Brooklyn Blackbirds at The Pope for the annual Battle of Brooklyn and both teams set a NEC record for points in a game. The match-up went into double overtime and featured 282 points, with St. Francis winning 142-140.
- On November 8, 2013, St. Francis Brooklyn defeated defending ACC Tournament Champions Miami (FL) 66-62 in overtime. It marked the programs first win against an ACC opponent.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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