SUFFOLK COUNTY COMMUNITY COLLEGE

Suffolk CC's Streak Reaches 41

By Gregg Sarra
NEWSDAY STAFF WRITER
February 8, 2004

Maurice Manning was feeling it and Westchester CC was feeling Manning. The Suffolk CC-Selden sharpshooter drained four straight three-pointers midway through the first half as the Clippers opened a 15-point lead. On his final trey, Manning didn't even watch the destination of the ball's flight. He knew it was good and turned to get back on defense before the ball found the net.

Manning finished the half with 18 of his 24 points and Suffolk CC cruised to an 80-63 win over Westchester yesterday before a crowd of 400 in a Region XV game at Brookhaven Gymnasium. Suffolk CC (23-0, 13-0), which extended the nation's longest winning streak to 41, will host Suffolk CC-Brentwood at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

"I felt good early and set the tone for the game," said Manning, who hit those four three-pointers in a 4:34 span. "We got off to a good start and that was important."

Manning's burst came after Westchester (8-11) closed to within 22-21 on Paul Jones' layup with 10:13 left in the half. But Suffolk answered with a 16-2 run, with Manning scoring 14 of the points, to extend its lead to 38-23.

Manning took a pass from point guard Aaron Cummings and beat Jones to the basket for a thunderous slam. On the ensuing possession, Manning stepped in front of a cross-court pass, made the steal and scored an easy layup. "He takes games over at some point on a consistent basis," Suffolk CC coach Rich Wrase said. "He's so explosive and comes at teams in a variety of ways."

When Manning wasn't burying long jumpers, he was grabbing rebounds on the defensive end and getting the break started with Cummings. Manning finished with nine rebounds and Cummings had a game-high 13 assists.

"We got it done, but Westchester did a nice job of controlling the tempo and getting into some productive sets," Wrase said. "We missed some free throws in the second half and let them back in the game."

Westchester cut its deficit to 44-40 in the second half on a jumper by forward Rod Chase (21 points) before Suffolk scored 18 of the next 21 points. Suffolk's Vernon Alonzo (14 points, seven rebounds) converted three putbacks, and the second-chance opportunities helped the Clippers pull away for another win.

"We're in the Region XV Division I playoffs, and that's what our sights are set on," said Westchester coach Winston Nicholas, who was without four starters and had only six players available yesterday. "No one wins championships in November and December in the regular season. Suffolk's a good team, but none of this really matters once the playoffs start."

Yet Suffolk is forced to play with urgency every time it takes the court, if the streak is to continue.

That's 41 and counting ...

SCC-SELDEN 80
WESTCHESTER 63

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