19th-ranked Pumas want to earn it on the court

RENSSELAER | St. Joseph's College registered arguably one its best men's basketball seasons in recent memory, going 20-12 and making the NCAA Division II Elite Eight last season.

Now the Pumas are focused on the present.

"What we did last year was last year," fifth-year St. Joseph's coach Rich Davis said. "We don't talk about last year much because that was a different team. Granted , we still have the majority of the team back, but I don't want to think about last year."

The Pumas return three starters back among 12 letterwinners from a team that also finished first in the Great Lakes Valley Conference North Division. St. Joseph's is ranked 19th in the NABC Division II coaches preseason poll.

Leading the way are a trio of guards in senior Michael Horton (7.1 ppg, 4 apg.), junior Phillip Collins (10.2 ppg, 4.8 rpg.) and junior Dayvon Sloan (11.5 ppg.). Horton and Collins were starters, while Sloan came off the bench.

"We've always been a perimeter-dominant team," Davis said. "We've got guys who can play multiple positions. If we need a faster lineup, we've got some guys. They're undersized, but that's how we play. We pride ourselves on defense, playing defense and getting stops."

Also in the mix are 6-2 sophomore guard Mike Lipton (Crown Point), 6-4 sophomore guard Jason Chorba (Bishop Noll) and 5-10 junior guard Jesse Repay (Andrean).

The other returning starter is 6-9 junior forward Jake Hassler (5.1 ppg., 2.5 rpg.), and the Pumas signed 6-foot-7 D.J. Martinez from Troy, Ohio.

"We picked up a couple kids that we needed, (including) an extra post man," Lipton said.

Lipton played 5 to 7 minutes last year as a preferred walk-on, and he earned a scholarship this season.

"Those are the preseason rankings, but we go hard everyday," he said. "We know we've got a target on our backs because of the tournament last year. We know teams want to beat us so we've got to be better than last year now. We've got to be better every night."

The Pumas open the season Monday at Ferris State.

"We're ranked now. We're going to get everybody's.  best shot so we can't come out lazy, playing to the level of our competition," he said. "We have to come out ready to play every day."