The Kings Point men's basketball team played three games last week, adding one victory and putting two in the loss column. The week began Monday, with the Mariners opening Skyline Conference play at home versus Mt. St. Vincent. The men's basketball team improved to 2-1 on the season and 1-0 in the Skyline Conference after soundly defeating the Dolphins of Mt. St. Vincent (2-1, 0-1), 102-74, in Liebertz Gymnasium. The 102 points were the most scored by the Kings Point offense in seven years. The Academy last reached the century mark during the 1993-94 campaign, scoring 112 against Nazareth College. The Mariners relied on a 19-4 scoring spurt in the first half to take a commanding 47-34 lead into the lockeroom at the break.

In the second half, the Mariners outpaced the Dolphins, 55-40, to stretch the margin of victory. The Blue and Gray was led by sophomore Seth Cobb (Powder Springs, GA), who supplied Kings Point with 20 points on 10 of 11 shooting and nine rebounds in just 24 minutes of work. Freshman guard Mark Medvetz (Medford, NJ) struck for 15 points in 15 minutes, while sophomore Kevin Kreutz (Glendale, AZ) contributed 10 in 21 minutes. The Mariners played 15 players with nine midshipmen working at least 12 minutes.

The Mariners traveled to St. Louis for the weekend, competing in the 17th running of the Lopata Classic hosted by Washington University. The Tournament featured Kings Point, Washington University, Beloit College, and Claremont-Mudd-Scripps Colleges. The Mariners dropped both games that they played on the road.

The Mariners played in the consolation game on Saturday and suffered their second straight setback of the weekend, losing to Beloit College, 100-91. It took two overtime periods for the Buccaneers to dispose of the Blue and Gray. It was the first time in the 17-year history of the Lopata Classic that a game was decided in double overtime. With the loss, Kings Point slipped to 2-3 (1-0 Skyline) on the young season. On Saturday, regulation play came to a close with both teams knotted at 76. The first overtime frame concluded with the game even at 82 points apiece. In the second overtime the game remained close until under two minutes to play, where Beloit benefited from nine free throws to spread the margin of victory.

The Mariners were led by junior Nate Barton (Hummelstown, PA), who was six of nine from three-point land, and drained 21 points. Other midshipmen to score in double figures were junior Kevin Bernick (Toms River, NJ) who provided 14, freshman Fred Slanovec (Slate Hill, NY) with 13, while sophomore Seth Cobb and freshman Mark Medvetz, who added 12 points a piece. Cobb also grabbed eight off the glass to lead the Blue and Gray in rebounds.

In the first round of play on Friday night, the Mariners dropped the first game of the Lopata Classic, as they were defeated by the Stags of Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CA), 72-60. The Mariners overcame a 10-0 run by the Stags to open the game and trailed 35-33 at the break. Kings Point opened the second half strong and were ahead 44-38 with less than fifteen minutes to play. The Stags then used a 22-10 scoring run in the last six minutes to even the Blue and Gray's season mark at 2-2. Kings Point was led in scoring and rebounding by Seth Cobb who collected 11 points and four rebounds. Mark Medvetz chipped in nine tallies while freshman Gabe Whitney (Nashua, NH) provided the offense with eight points down low. The Mariners struggled from the field hitting on four of 22 from beyond the arc and shot 32 percent from the floor for the game.

The Blue and Gray indoor track and field teams had a strong showing at the Cardinal Relays hosted by Wesleyan University today. Although team scores were not kept, the Mariners had four of six relays finish in the top-three places at the event.

The team was led by senior jumper Levi Nunley (Patton, PA), who placed second in the triple jump (12.51 m) and third in the long jump (6.05 m). Freshman Todd Hoyt (Bend, OR) had the fastest times for the team in both the 200 (23.7) and the 400 (51.9). Freshman Chris Kapfer (Tualatin, OR) ran two terrific splits of 2:01 and 2:02 in the two legs of the 800 that he ran. Freshman Aaron Smeckert (Allendale, MI) also had an outstanding day, running a 53.0 split on the 4x400 relay and the Mariners' best leg on the 4x200 relay.