Onondaga CC’s Jesse Gates and Heath Stone named to the Mid-State Athletic Conference All-Conference Basketball Team

Lazers preparing for MSAC Championship Tournament this weekend

SYRACUSE, NY. – February 17, 2011 – Onondaga Community College men’s basketball players Jesse Gates (Liverpool) and Heath Stone (Chittenango) have both been named to the 2011 Mid-State Athletic Conference All-Conference Men’s Basketball team, as announced today. The Lazers’ Andrew Lucio (Solvay) was an honorable mention selection.  Onondaga finished the regular season 9-3 in MSAC play and 20-8 overall. The Lazers have earned the #2 seed for the MSAC Championship Tournament, which will be held this weekend at regular season champion Finger Lakes Community College.

Gates has been the Lazers’ leading scorer this season. He is averaging 17.8 points per game overall, and 16.0 points per game in MSAC play, good for 8th among the conference scoring leaders. He is also Onondaga’s second leading rebounder, averaging 7.4 rebounds per game, and ranks 5th in the MSAC in free throw percentage, shooting 73.7% from the foul line in conference play. He was named both the MSAC Player of the Week and the National Junior College Athletic Association National Player of the Week for the week ending January 23rd.

Stone is the Lazers’ second leading scorer and leading rebounder, averaging 14.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game on the season. He averages 15.0 points per game in conference, 10th among the leaders. His 9.9 rebounds per game in conference play ranks him 3rd among the conference leaders, and he ranks second in the conference in field goal percentage, shooting 65.0% from the floor in conference play.

Lucio is third on the Lazers’ team in scoring, averaging 10.9 points per game, and his average of 6.3 assists per game ranks him 7th nationally in that category. He is averaging 5.6 assists per game in conference, good for 2nd among the leaders, and he is also 2nd in the conference in three-point percentage, shooting 42.9% from behind the arc in MSAC play.

All of the conference award winners will be recognized during an awards presentation between games of Saturday’s semi-final doubleheader at Finger Lakes Community College. The #2 seed Lazers will face #3 Broome Community College at 1:00 pm, with #1 seed Finger Lakes to face #4 seed Jefferson Community College following the awards presentation, at approximately 3:00 pm.