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Jason Wingate ’06 26 manhattan.edu Men’s Basketball Finishes Season at NIT The old adage, “What doesn’t kill you, makes you stronger,” epitomizes the 2005-06 Manhattan men’s basketball season, which saw the Jaspers overcome many ups and downs on the way to a MAAC Regular Season Championship and a run deep into the NIT. Head coach Bobby Gonzalez and the team will be remembered for the numerous memorable moments and games that brought joy and pride to the Jasper faithful. Expectations were high entering the season, as the Jaspers were selected second in the MAAC Preseason Poll and had two players, sophomores CJ Anderson and Arturo Dubois, named to Preseason All-MAAC Teams. Joining that talented duo was fellow sophomore Jeff Xavier, as well as an extremely experienced backcourt of senior co-captains Kenny Minor and Jason Wingate. The season kicked off with four formidable opponents (Seton Hall, George Mason, Syracuse and Rhode Island), three of whom received NCAA berths at the conclusion of the season. Struggling at times to find the right chemistry and identity as a team, Manhattan dropped its first four games. But, just as pundits were about to write them off, the team came together and ran off 10 straight wins, including victories over local rivals Fordham and Iona, with the road win over the Gaels being the first for the Jaspers in nine seasons. Manhattan’s string of good fortune seemed to have run its course as the second semester began and the team’s top scorer and rebounder, CJ Anderson, was now lost for the season. Once again, the anti-Manhattan contingent was proclaiming the Jaspers’ season to be lost, as the Green and White lost its first post-Anderson game in convincing fashion. Junior center Guy Ngarndi and Minor each suffered hand injuries at almost the same time and both players missed several weeks’ worth of games. This time could have been the nadir of the season for Manhattan, but this team showed the spirit and resilience that is the trademark of the program, as the team, down to just eight dressed players, kept pace with conference leading Iona in the MAAC standings. Following a nonconference game versus Long Beach State, where at halftime Manhattan welcomed back and honored the top players from the first 100 seasons of Jasper men’s basketball, both Ngarndi and Minor made dramatic returns in time for the final two games of the regular season. In the duo’s first game back, Manhattan downed Fairfield to set up a showdown with rival Iona in the final game of the regular season. The MAAC schedulers must have been patting themselves on the back as Showdown Sunday approached. The game was a televised affair pitting the top two teams in the conference against each other, with the Regular Season Championship and the top-seed in the MAAC Tournament on the line. The game, Senior Night for the four Manhattan seniors, lived up to, and possibly exceeded, the hype, as it came down to the final seconds with Wingate giving Manhattan the lead for good with just under two minutes remaining and icing the game with four clutch free throws down the stretch. The win earned Manhattan its third MAAC Regular Season Championship in the last four years. Before the MAAC Championships began, Dubois, Wingate and Xavier were named to the All-MAAC Second Team, and Gonzalez was named the 2005-06 The Rock MAAC Coach of the Year. Unfortunately, the Jaspers’ stay at the MAAC Tournament was short-lived, as Manhattan ran into a red-hot Saint Peter’s team in the semifinals. But, by virtue of their regular season championship, the Jaspers’ season was not over. They received an automatic berth to the NIT, beginning with just the second home postseason game in program history against Fairleigh Dickinson in an Opening Round Game. Wingate, as he has done so many times over the course of his career, came up big for the Jaspers again. He hit a jumper to give Manhattan the lead late in the game, as well as two Kenny Minor ’06 free throws to put the game away and give the Jaspers their first win in the NIT since 1992. The win over FDU propelled Manhattan into a nationally televised game at powerhouse and ACC stalwart Maryland in the NIT First Round. Heading into the game, Manhattan knew it would take an inspired effort to pull off the upset, and that is exactly what happened, as Xavier became just the fifth Manhattan player to score 30 or more points in an NIT game. He poured in a game-high 31 as the Jaspers downed the Terrapins, 87-84, and handed Maryland its third nonconference home loss in its last 119 games. Foul trouble in the game brought Manhattan down to five remaining in the final seconds, with sophomore reserve Franck Traore coming up with two huge rebounds and two free throws to help put the game away. That victory thrust the Jaspers into the Second Round and a date with CAA member Old Dominion. Manhattan’s magical run came to an end in Norfolk, Va., as the potential game-winning shot went in and out in the waning seconds. The team concluded its season with a 20-11 record and provided Manhattan with its fourth 20-win season in the last five seasons, its fifth straight winning season, and its fourth postseason appearance (two NCAAs and two NITs) in the past five years. The Jaspers will graduate a senior class that will go down as one of the winningest classes in the history of the program but return a talented group that will look to keep Manhattan College on the lips of college basketball prognosticators for years to come.
Bobby Gonzalez Earns MAAC Coach of the Year Honors Former men’s basketball head coach Bobby Gonzalez Women’s Basketball In each of head coach Myndi Hill’s first two seasons in Riverdale, the women’s basketball team competed with only four returning players from the previous season. In 2005-06, that total doubled. Although there were more of them, the Lady Jaspers were still the “Baby Jaspers,” as eight of the 11 players that suited up for Manhattan during the 2005-06 campaign were either freshmen or sophomores. Their lack of experience at the Division I level hampered them at times, but several players gave Lady Jasper fans reason to be excited for upcoming seasons. After earning MAAC All-Rookie honors as a freshman, sophomore guard Joann Nwafili continued to progress and the conference took notice. Nwafili earned All-MAAC Third Team honors as she led the team in scoring, rebounding, assists and steals. The sophomore guard started all 29 of the team’s games, averaging 9.8 points per game, 6.2 rebounds per contest and 3.6 steals per game. She also came up with 57 steals. Right behind Nwafili in scoring was fellow sophomore forward Caitlin Flood. Matching Nwafili’s scoring average of 9.8 points per game, Flood was part of a Lady Jasper scoring attack, which had six Lady J’s average at least 5.6 points per game. Flood added 4.0 rebounds per game and was the best free throw shooter on the squad, nailing 60 of her 71 attempts for an 85-percent clip. Flood was not the only one doing damage to opponents in the Manhattan frontcourt. Freshman Kelly Regan emerged as a powerful force down low and was one of the league’s top rookies. Regan was in the top five among MAAC freshmen in points, rebounds, blocks and field goal percentage. Her 48.3 shooting percentage was the best on the team and her 9.0 points per game was third amongst Lady Jaspers and the conference’s rookies. One of Regan’s most memorable moments of the season was her homecoming to her native region of Western New York. Manhattan College former men’s basketball head coach Bobby Gonzalez has been named The Rock 2006 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Coach of the Year, which was announced at the MAAC Awards Ceremony at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, N.Y. This season may go down as Gonzalez’s best coaching job, as he has led the Jaspers to the MAAC Regular Season Championship, despite losing the team’s most talented player after 16 games and being forced to dress just eight players for seven games due to injuries and suspensions. Gonzalez also coached his 200th game this season and is moving up the Manhattan all-time wins list. He compiled Kelly Regan ’09 a 127-75 career record (62.9%) and an even better 85-41 (67.5%) mark in MAAC games, the best winning percentage among current MAAC coaches and the seventh best mark in the history of the conference. In his seventh season with the Jaspers and overall as a Division I head coach, he earns the honor after leading Manhattan to its third regular season title in four years with an overall record of 18-9, including an 14-4 MAAC ledger, and earning the No. 1 seed in the 2006 Citizens Bank MAAC Basketball Championship. It is the second time that Gonzalez has earned this award. He was named the MAAC Coach of the Year for the 2002-03 season. On the team’s annual Buffalo swing, Regan helped her team to a season sweep of Niagara with her first career double-double, dropping in 17 points and securing 10 rebounds. She earned MAAC Rookie of the Week honors for her efforts against the Purple Eagles, as well as Buffalo-based Canisius College. Another young contributor was sophomore guard Gabrielle Cottrell. At 8.9 points per game, Cottrell was the team’s fourth leading scorer and most potent three-point shooter. The sophomore led the team in three-pointers — making 51 — but shooting and scoring was not all she had to offer. Like her backcourt mate, Nwafili, Cottrell provided the Lady J’s with a solid rebounder from the guard position. She was third on the team at 4.3 boards per contest, including an 11-rebound performance at home against Niagara. In that Jasper win, Cottrell and Nwafili combined for 24 rebounds and matched the output of the entire Purple Eagle team. In addition to the youngsters, the Lady J’s received contributions from two lone seniors, guard Lupe Godinez and forward Jennifer LePinnet. Godinez appeared in all of the team’s 29 games, starting 23 and averaging 6.6 points per game. LePinnet logged minutes in 26 games at a rate of 13.1 minutes per games, scoring 41 points and grabbing 50 boards. continued page 28 manhattan.edu sports 27
Page 1 and 2: Volume Thirty-Two Number One Spring
Page 3 and 4: Charles Maikish, executive director
Page 5 and 6: Tech Savvy School of Ed The school
Page 7 and 8: The Jasper Rx The father of modern
Page 9 and 10: Engineering Students Design Tools f
Page 11 and 12: Student Teachers Take on Tsunami-To
Page 13 and 14: The Mentor Program: A Window to the
Page 15 and 16: Building Homes for Humanity Manhatt
Page 17 and 18: Retrospective Art Exhibit Celebrate
Page 19 and 20: Faculty and Staff Accomplishments D
Page 21 and 22: A Sweet Cawing from the Old Crows F
Page 23 and 24: Understanding the WTO David Runnall
Page 25 and 26: Volume 4, Number 1 Spring 2006
Page 27 and 28: East Hill Tower II Instead of trave
Page 29 and 30: New York Life Insurance Luncheon Ho
Page 31 and 32: John E. Skvarla III ’70 loyal alu
Page 33: Local Author Waxes Poetic Tom Sleig
Page 37 and 38: Men’s Soccer The men’s soccer t
Page 39 and 40: The Ciba Decade The 2004-2005 acade
Page 41 and 42: Reunion 2006: the Anniversary Class
Page 43 and 44: Message from the President of the A
Page 45 and 46: Alumnotes ’32 At 96 and in good h
Page 47 and 48: Continued from pg. 37 - Alumnotes t
Page 49 and 50: He joined the Department of Energy
Page 51 and 52: Waking up to Jim Ryan ’60 Seasone
Page 53 and 54: Thomas E. Chambers, retired dean of
Page 55 and 56: Dr. Leonard O’Connor, retired phy

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