CACC PLAYERS, TEAMS AND COACHES REACH MILESTONES IN 2009-10
Courtesy of Sarah Houseknecht, CACC Office
NEW HAVEN, Conn. - The 2009-2010 basketball season has been highly decorated by the many accomplishments of Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) institutions. Teams have persevered for a common goal, individual players have excelled and one coach, Herb Magee, stood out above the rest in his journey toward an NCAA record.
Long-time Philadelphia University Men’s Basketball Head
Coach Herb Magee established 
himself as the winningest Division II men’s basketball coach
in NCAA history in February of 2007 when he surpassed the 828-win
mark. He has since kept the tally running, adding himself to
another list in his 43rd season. Now, not only is Magee
on top of the DII list, he has racked up the most wins in
NCAA men's basketball history.
Legendary Bobby Knight moved to the top of the coaching wins list in DI men’s basketball history Jan. 1, 2007. Between that time and Knight’s resignation from Texas Tech in February 2008, he built his win column to a whopping 902 career wins. Knight held his place in the record book, regardless of division, but all the while Magee and the Rams were cutting the margin.
Magee led his team to a victory over conference opponent Goldey-Beacom College on Feb. 23, 2010, for his 903rd win, trumping Knight’s record. Magee is one of just three NCAA coaches to ever surpass 900 wins, and has placed himself at the head of this elite list with 905 total wins entering this week's NCAA Tournament.
NCAA Division II Most Consecutive Regular Season Conference Victories
Magee wasn't the only record breaker this season in the CACC. On Feb. 25, 2005, the Holy Family University women’s basketball program beat conference opponent Caldwell College 64-43 and never looked back. The Tigers have led CACC women’s basketball for the past five seasons, extending their consecutive regular-season win streak to a seemingly insurmountable 103.
On Jan. 28, 2010, the team broke the NCAA Division II record for most consecutive conference regular-season victories at Goldey-Beacom with their 93rd consecutive win, breaking the record formerly held by The College of Saint Rose when they were a member of the New York Collegiate Athletic Conference. The Tigers finished the regular season with a record of 27-1, with their only loss coming at non-conference opponent, Bentley University.
Holy Family soared through conference play this season with just one nail-biter against Caldwell on Jan. 30, which ended with a six-point victory for the Tigers. Over the course of the 2009-2010 season, Holy Family’s average margin of victory over CACC opponents was 22 points.
CACC Records Set in 2009-2010
The Concordia (N.Y.) College men’s basketball team pounded the boards in their conference match-up versus Bloomfield College on Dec. 12, 2009. The Clippers placed themselves in fourth on the CACC single-game record list for team rebounds with 59. The team effort was not enough to trump the 2007 record setter of 63 rebounds by Felician College.
Junior Will Eason led Concordia’s rebounding effort this season. He broke the CACC single-season average for rebounds per game with 12.1 and also the single season record with 328 total caroms. His season average was nearly two rebounds ahead of the second place conference rebounder.
Eason also tied the CACC record for rebounds in a single game twice this season, pulling down 21 boards against Caldwell and Nyack College. He shares the first spot on this list with two other CACC athletes, including Philadelphia senior, Mike Yocum. Eason also tied for the fourth spot on the same list three times during the 2009-2010 season by recording 19 rebounds against Bloomfield, Nova Southeastern University and Post University.
Notable Milestones in CACC Women’s Hoops
Many athletes around the conference broke school records or fought their way to milestones. A pair of senior CACC women reached two milestones this season, both getting it done in the post.
Amelia Simmons of Wilmington (Del.) University not only shattered the 2,000 career point marker, but set a new school scoring record by finishing the regular season with 2,256 points. In addition to reaching this lofty goal, Simmons pulled down her 1,000th rebound this season. Jessica Romano of Philadelphia also reached two milestones, ending the regular season of her senior year with 1,839 points. On top of exceeding 1,500 points, Romano earned her 1,000th rebound to become the only female player in program history to notch 1,500 points and 1,000 rebounds.
Kirsty Leedham of Caldwell scored her 1,000th point earlier this season against Nyack. Leedham, a junior, has another season to build on this milestone. In addition, she already broke Caldwell’s career three-point field goal record of 149, which was formerly held by Head Coach Jen Carleton of Goldey-Beacom, who is a Caldwell graduate. Leedham finished the regular season with 166 career three-pointers.
Janelle Biamonte of Felician also reached the 1,500 point marker and finished her career with 1,839 points. She also earned a spot at the top of Felician’s career three-point shooting list this season. Her teammate, Tierra Cleaves passed her way to the lead of another record list, dishing the ball 14 times against Caldwell to set the record at Felician for most assists in a single game. The 14 assists tie her for second all-time in the conference single game record book.
Other 1,000 point scorers this season include Dana Rommel of Concordia, Catherine Carr and Christine McCollum of Holy Family, Kelsy McIntosh and Shelly Yount of Nyack and Kim Parker of Wilmington.
Notable Milestones in CACC Men’s Hoops
Kyle White, a transfer from Delaware State, has spent only two years as a CACC student-athlete but made an immediate impact at Goldey-Beacom. White broke the school’s single-season points record of 468 that had been standing since 2004. He finished the season with 640 points. As a senior, White not only broke the single-season scoring record, but was able to reach the 1,000 point milestone in just two seasons with the Lightening.
Junior guardGage Daye of Bloomfield College notched his 1,000th point this season. The milestone came with a 35-point performance against California University of Pennsylvania. Daye was also able to record a triple-double against Post, finishing the game with 26 points, 11 boards and 11 assists. It was the only triple-double registered in the East Region this year. Daye also tallied 41 points against Post in their second encounter of the season, which is the most of any player in the region in 2009-10.
Other 1,000 point scorers were Julian McFadden of Chestnut Hill College, Kenneth Gaskins III of Concordia,Devon Young of Felician and Justin Swidowski of Holy Family. Both Russell Frederick and Malcolm Ingram of Philadelphia exceeded 1,500 career points this season.
