Posted: Jul 03, 2015

Season In Review: Wells College Men's Basketball

Throughout the summer of 2015, the Wells College Department of Athletics website will look back at the "year that was". Starting with men's lacrosse on Thursday, June 11, a comprehensive "season in review" for each of Wells' 14 NCAA Division III varsity sports will be posted, giving fans not only a look back but also a look forward to the upcoming season of play.

Men's Lacrosse (06/11/15)
Women's Tennis (06/12/15)
Men's Volleyball (06/19/15)
Women's Lacrosse (06/26/15)
Men's Basketball (07/03/15)
Women's Swimming (07/10/15)
Women's Basketball (07/17/15)
Men's Swimming (07/24/15)
Field Hockey (07/31/15)
Men's Soccer (08/07/15)
Women's Volleyball (08/14/15)
Men's Cross Country (08/21/15)
Women's Soccer (08/28/15)
Women's Cross Country (09/04/15)

The Wells College men's basketball program overcame a sluggish start to their 2014-15 season by racking up six victories in nine games to place them squarely in the hunt for a playoff position. Despite three tough losses by less than eight points down the stretch, the Express set many team offensive records as they look to rebound in time for the 2015-16 season in their newly-renovated facility, the Farenthold Athletic Wing.

STATISTICAL LEADERS


POINTS PER GAME Jordan Jean 11.5	REBOUNDS PER GAME Jordan Jean 6.4	FIELD GOAL PERCENTAGE Jordan Jean .476 (91-for-191)	3-POINT FG PERCENTAGE Shakeel Simmons .373 (25-for-67)

POSTSEASON AWARD WINNERS


MOST VALUABLE PLAYER Jordan Jean	ROOKIE OF THE YEAR Jared Alexander	EXPRESS AWARD Erich Kaempffe

NOTABLES

FIXING IT UP: Wells College announced plans to renovate the Frances Tarlton Farenthold Athletic Wing during the summer of 2015. Renovations are expected to be completed in time for the 2015-16 academic year and the men's basketball season. Planned improvements include lighting upgrades, a wall-to-wall gymnasium floor, increased seating capacity for spectators and increased support spaces for athletic training. For a photo gallery of the progress, click here.

TAKING FLIGHT: The men's basketball team took flight during the winter and headed off to Washington State to take on stiff competition from Whitman and Whitworth. Wells remains the only North Eastern Athletic Conference institution to win both men's and women's league championships and was one of only two conference schools boarding airplanes this winter, heading out in search of victories against the top teams from other regions.

DEAN FOR THREE: With his team trailing by two points, freshman Christopher Dean (Wolcott, N.Y.) hit a three-point shot with only 13 seconds left in regulation time to put the Express up for good in their 54-52 victory over SUNY Cobleskill on Dec. 7. Following a Wells timeout, Dean bombed his go-ahead three-pointer with only 13 seconds left on the clock to place the hosts up by a 53-52 score. The team also bombed 10 three-pointers in the game, the sixth-most in a single contest in program history.

100 FOR WOJTYLKO: A whopping 13 players scored at least two points for Wells in their 68-31 defeat of Wilson College on Jan. 22. With the win, Head Coach Joe Wojtylko secured his 100th career coaching victory while earning his 90th with the Express. Serving as the interim Head Coach at Hobart College in 2006, Wojtylko accumulated 10 victories in 17 games and secured his first victory with a 92-78 win against North Carolina Wesleyan on Jan. 6, 2006.

"FREE'S" AND "THREE'S": The Express combined to post a .702 free throw percentage (401-for-571) in 2014-15, the best mark in single season history. From three-point range, the Express also had an impressive mark - shooting .329 (126-for-383) from beyond the arc, the Wells cagers fell just short of besting the team record of .346 (170-for-491) that was set in 2011-12.

SPEAKING OF FREE THROWS...: Sophomore Chris Courtney (Auburn, N.Y.) had an outstanding year from the charity stripe in 2014-15, converting 23-of-25 free throws for a .920 percentage that stands as the best single-season total in team history (min. 20 attempts).

SENIORS LEAVING THEIR MARK: Several seniors departed Wells this past year with top-10 career statistical rankings. Senior Joe Walton (Ocala, Fla.) departed with 194 assists, passing Dave Foltz for first all-time (193), while his 551 career points in three years stand as the ninth-most in program history. His 67 starts are also the most by any one player in team history, as are his 1,905 minutes played. Classmate Erich Kaempffe (North Rose, N.Y.) concluded his four-year career with 82 games played, the third-most in team history.