1997 Men’s Basketball Team

SCAC Champions | NCAA Tournament

Under head coach Joe Thoni, the 1997 men’s basketball team posted a 19-7 record en route to the team’s only Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) Championship and the fifth conference championship overall … In a stretch from January 10 to February 9, the Tigers won eight of 10 conference games, finishing with an 11-3 mark in league play, three games ahead of Southwestern University (Texas), to win the title … Earning the automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament, the program collected its first postseason win on March 6 over Rust College (Miss.), 68-61, inside Juhan Gymnasium … Ryan Harrigan, who was named Conference Player of the Year that season, lead the team with scoring with 488 points, averaging 18.8 points per game … As a team, the program drained 193 three-point field goals to lead the SCAC, averaging 7.42 per contest … Harrigan and Turner Emery were named First Team All-SCAC and were named All-Americans by DIII News … Head Coach Joe Thoni was named the SCAC Coach of the Year …

Team Roster: Charles Beene, Tony DeFilippo, Turner Emery, Jeff Foster, Pablo Gonzalez, Ryan Harrigan, Pat Hart, Peter Jones, Jamie May, Chris Miller, Jason Porter, Jason Swiney, Joshua Trahan, Tim Truitt, Dale Wellman

Coaching Staff: Joe Thoni (Head Coach), Pete Dillon (Assistant Coach), Brian Field (Student Assistant Coach), Chris Murray and Casey Field (Managers)