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By Joseph Staszewski
Brooklyn Daily
Coach Glenn Braica believes his St. Francis College men’s basketball team, led by star forward Jalen Cannon, could defy expectations and go all the way this year.
St. Francis was picked to finish seventh in the conference by the coaches, but Braica sees Cannon as a possible Northeast Conference player of the year candidate who can lead the Terriers to a conference title.
“I want to win the league,” he said. “I don’t have any other goals. I think we have a chance.”
Build off a 12–18 campaign last year that saw it go 8–10 in conference play, the Terriers already own an upset victory over Miami, last season’s Atlantic Coast Conference champions.
The 6-foot-6, 230-pound Cannon, a preseason all-conference first-team selection, came close to averaging a double-double last season, with 14.7 points and 8.8 rebounds per game. Braica praised his work ethic and his natural instincts on the court.
“He’s a great rebounder,” the coach said. “He’s become a very good inside scorer. He’s worked on his shot. He plays with a feel that you can’t teach. Some players are just born with it.”
Cannon played late in the season with an injured foot, is the inside force that will be complemented by guards Brent Jones, Ben Mockford and Kevin Douglas.
Jones is a quick, slashing point guard who was the team’s leader in assists last season. Mockford is a sharp shooter and the team’s second leading scorer a year ago at 11.1 points per contest. The athletic Douglas, who played just 16 games because of a hand injury, has already looked strong in the preseason. The combination makes Cannon confident the team can adapt on the court.
“We can either slow it down of play up tempo,” Cannon said. “I feel like up tempo is good for us. We are at lot more athletic than we were in past years.”
The team has also added depth. Freshmen Sheldon Hagigal, Wayne Martin and Yunus Hopkinson, and sophomore Amdy Fall have already been pushing the team’s upperclassmen in practice, fostering a competitive dynamic Braica felt was missing last season.
The mix of proven veterans and hungry youngsters gives Braica hope that — with enough hard work — this could be a banner season for St. Francis.
“While I’m optimistic, we have a four-month grind ahead of us,” Braica said. “We have work our butts off every day to get better.”